Four Papers Exploring Victorian Scientific Culture: Mock Turtle Soup, Cosmetics, Bicycles, and Psychical Study

Abstract

This collection of four papers was written for a History 498 Senior Seminar. This particular class was unusual because instead of writing one long paper we wrote four shorter papers. The subject of the class was Science and Popular Culture in the Victorian Period. Each of these papers focuses on a different aspect of Victorian scientific views through one specific example. The research topics had to connect to the theme of that weeks reading, and needed to be based primarily on primary sources. I wrote about animal rights through examining cookbooks, cleanliness and hygiene through cosmetics, women’s reproductive health through bicycles, and psychical research through a skeptical member of the leading paranormal society of the Victorian era. Each of these papers focuses on a different aspect of Victorian science, but they should be understood as one project representative of a quarter long process of developing research and writing skills.