Perception and Analogy

Rosalind Powell is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol

'...the book is a strong example of how science studies can advance literary studies and why literaturescholars do well to understand the influence of science.'SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900'The strength of Perception and Analogy comes in its detailed catalogue of how analogies are used to affirm religious beliefs during this period. Scholars working in disability studies will find the chapters on human limitation particularly useful, as Powell’s close readings affirm the centrality of disabled bodies for linking medical and religious discourses during the eighteenth century.'Eighteenth-Century Fiction'Rosalind Powell’s Perception and Analogy stands as a valuable contribution to eighteenth-century scholarship, shedding new light on the intellectual interplay between poetry, science, and religion during the Age of Enlightenment. Powell’s study reaffirms the pivotal role of analogy in integrating diverse discourses, enriching our comprehension of eighteenth-century intellectual life.'The British Society for Literature and Science

• Introduction 1. Celestial speculations 2. Light, perception and revelation 3. Seeing in colour 4. Understanding the eye 5. Perception and the body Bibliography Notes Index