The High Firmament: a Survey of Astronomy in English Literature

From the foreword: “There are, perhaps, two main reasons for studying how scientific trends are reflected in non-scientific literature.  In the first place, the scientific outlook has changed so vastly over the past few centuries that unless a special analysis is made many literatery references to science become incompreshensible to a modern reader.  On the other hand, the world view of even educated non-scientists has sometimes differed appreciably from that of their scientific contemporaries.  As a result, a study of non-scientific literature can be of value in the history of science since if provides an insight into the diffusion of scientific ideas throughout society as a whole.”