Litscipod: The Literature And Science Podcast

Produced by: Catherine Charlwood (@DrCharlwood) and Laura Ludtke (@lady_electric) Music composed and performed by Gareth Jones. About the episode: The sixth episode of the second series of LitSciPod is all about analogy and language shared between literature (especially poetry), science, and science writing. Laura and Catherine are joined by a special guest: Dr Greg Tate (@drgregorytate), Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of St Andrews. Greg shares his research on matter, form, and rhythm in nineteenth century poetry and the physical sciences. He asks why there is so much poetry in the science writing of the period (and even today) and what that says about the connections between literature and science. Greg also discusses how Hardy’s poetry draws on Einstein’s theory of relativity, why the concept of the ether is so important to science and poetry. At the end of the episode, you can hear Greg read an excerpt from Mathilde Blind’s The Ascent of Man (1889). Episode resources (in order of