Before Einstein: The Fourth Dimension in Fin de Siecle Literature And Culture (anthem Nineteenth Century)

'Before Einstein' examines the discourse of hyperspace philosophy and its position within the network of 'new' ideas at the end of the nineteenth century. Hyperspace philosophy grew out of the concept of a fourth spatial dimension, an idea that became increasingly debated amongst mathematicians, physicists and philosophers during the 1870s and 80s.

‘Before Einstein’ brings together previous scholarship in the field of nineteenth-century literature and science and greatly expands upon it, offering the first book-length study of not only the scientific and cultural context of the spatial fourth dimension, but also the literary value of four-dimensional theory. In addition to providing close critical analysis of Charles Howard Hinton’s Scientific Romances (1884–1896), ‘Before Einstein’ examines the work of H. G. Wells, Henry James and William James through the lens of four-dimensional theory. The primary value of Hinton’s work has always been its literary and philosophical content and influence, rather than its scientific authority.