Faculty Spotlight

The Boston Globe Praises Literature Professor’s Daring New Book

The cover of "Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science", flanked by photos of Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin
The cover of "Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science", flanked by photos of Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin. Photos from public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A recent article in The Boston Globe commends Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science (Princeton University Press, 2024) by Professor of Literature and Writing Renée Bergland. A specialist in American literature and feminist studies, Bergland demonstrates how Dickinson and Darwin reconciled the enchantment of art and the rationality of science. As Bergland explains, “This book started with the puzzling realization that many of Dickinson’s poems seemed profoundly Darwinian.”

According to the GlobeNatural Magic is “a daring kind of book . . . it’s the sort of wide-ranging and spirited book that most academics never write,” fusing different audiences and approaches.

Read the full article in The Boston Globe

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Kathryn Dickason