Overview

Full Product Details

9780190269715

Table of Contents

Reviews

Drawing on work from theater studies and history of science, Al Coppola moves beyond generalizing or analogical connections between science and performance to show the rich imbrications between a culture of natural philosophy and a view of theatrical performance that saw it as acting to reform its audience's political opinions and moral outlook through mocking laughter. ... It will certainly interest historians of science who want to ground their understandings of public scientific performance in the specificities of eighteenth-century theatrical cultures, as well as those with interests in the long-run history of literature and science. * Matthew Paskins, Isis Journal * This remarkable book puts theater and science in conversation with one another in utterly new ways. Whether Coppola reads The Rehearsal from the perspective of a Restoration scientist, or looks at Isaac Newton as a harlequin, he fills this book with astonishing insights and arresting comparisons. I have not enjoyed a book so much in quite a while. * George E. Haggerty, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 * The Theater of Experiment is such a valuable addition not solely for the scholarship of eighteenth-century natural philosophy but for the cultural history of the age at large. With his protean focus on visuality, Coppola is able to unearth a number of questions that, tying together scientific and literary production under the aegis of epistemology, are central for the study of the eighteenth-century culture. * Alessio Mattana (University of Leeds), The British Society for Literature and Science *

<em>The Theater of Experiment</em> is a valuable and timely book that breaks new ground in examining the complex relations between science and theatrical practice. Building on the work of scholars in both science studies and theater history, Al Coppola argues persuasively that the performative aspects of Restoration and eighteenth-century science--from theatrical satire in the 1670s and 80s to staged demonstrations of fundamental scientific principles in the 1750s and 60s--are crucial to understanding the culture of the period. --Robert Markley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Many have referred to Restoration and eighteenth-century English science as a spectacle, but Al Coppola's sophisticated and widely-ranging account is the first to explore in depth the interconnections between experimental science and popular theater. In sparkling prose, <em>The Theater of Experiment</em> reveals the profound cultural impacts of the new science as expressed by playwrights and experienced by audiences. -ANITA GUERRINI, Oregon State University Coppola's <em>The Theater of Experiment</em> reshapes performance studies and science studies by bringing the two fields together. Coppola freshly traces-in drama and pantomime-sales pitches for the new science and send-ups of the Royal Society and other science practitioners. It becomes a standard work about the dissemination of the new science to a wide public. -JOHN BENDER, Stanford University In his lucidly written and compellingly argued <em>The Theater of Experiment</em>, Al Coppola demonstrates what others have hypothesized but no one until now has subjected to thorough-going empirical tests at key points across the long eighteenth century: science and the theater staged reciprocating spectacles, together producing a general public for new visual experiences. Theater isn't always viewed as so intellectually central, nor is Natural Philosophy typically this much fun. -JOSEPH ROACH, Yale University

Author Information

Al Coppola is Associate Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available