"Romanticism" seems absolutely antithetical to science. We associate romanticism with poetry and emotion and set it opposite science and its associated qualities of rationality and objectivity. Historians of science have traditionally accepted this view and have seen romanticism as an obstacle to good science and an unfortunate weakness of certain scientists which clouded their judgment and confounded their method. Yet historical research has shown that romantic attitudes in science have not in fact obstructed the advance of science. Indeed, one of the most important of scientists in the creation of modern chemistry, Humphry Davy, was a romantic. How did romanticism shape science and its institutions? How did romanticism become incompatible with science? The answer to these questions could help to create a rapprochement between the rationalist needs of contemporary science and the views of its romantic critics. Julianne Tuttle's dissertation "Humphry Davy: A Case Study of Science and Romanticism" pursues questions arising from the striking observation of several Davy scholars that Romanticism dominated Davy's thought at some phases in his career but was almost absent in others. Ms. Tuttle's dissertation centers around a close reading of Davy's works including unpublished journals, letters, lab notes, drafts of scientific papers, lecture notes, and poetry. This close reading will 1) track the prevalence of Romanticism in Davy's chemistry, epistemology, and notions of genius, 2) analyze how Davy integrated Romanticism with mainstream chemistry and method, and 3) discern and analyze instances in which Davy tempered or excluded his Romanticism in favor of a more fully Baconian, mechanistic, or nonmetaphysical science. Ms. Tuttle's dissertation will contribute to the recent scholarship which has found Romanticism to be integral to the development of modern science. Furthermore, taking Davy as a case study suggestive of larger trends, the dissertation will explore conflicts or incomp atibility between Romanticism and science with the goal of understanding how science was recast to exclude Romanticism.
