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A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859Robert Leslie Ellis: An Almost Perfect Moral Nature

A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859: Robert Leslie Ellis: An Almost... [Sophia De Morgan met Robert Ellis when he was a student at Cambridge, and ever-after remembered him to possess an “almost perfect moral nature.” Her response to the sickly young man was typical of the ways Victorians responded to invalids like John Keats or Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But Ellis was neither a poet nor a woman. In the case of Ellis, the evidence of his moral character lay in the facility with which he practiced mathematics. Throughout the eighteenth century, the success of Newtonian cosmology served the English as a guarantee that in mathematics they could align their thoughts with the mind of God and by so doing truly understand the world in which they lived. As they moved into the nineteenth century, however, this assurance of unity between the human and the divine was being challenged on many fronts. When Sophia attributed “an almost perfect moral character” to the sickly young man, she was recognizing him as an ally in a battle for England’s soul that centered on the nature of mathematics.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859Robert Leslie Ellis: An Almost Perfect Moral Nature

Part of the Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Book Series (volume 55)
Editors: Verburgt, Lukas M.
Richards, Joan L.
A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859 — Apr 13, 2022
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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2022. This book is an open access publication.
ISBN
978-3-030-85257-3
Pages
147 –167
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-85258-0_7
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Sophia De Morgan met Robert Ellis when he was a student at Cambridge, and ever-after remembered him to possess an “almost perfect moral nature.” Her response to the sickly young man was typical of the ways Victorians responded to invalids like John Keats or Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But Ellis was neither a poet nor a woman. In the case of Ellis, the evidence of his moral character lay in the facility with which he practiced mathematics. Throughout the eighteenth century, the success of Newtonian cosmology served the English as a guarantee that in mathematics they could align their thoughts with the mind of God and by so doing truly understand the world in which they lived. As they moved into the nineteenth century, however, this assurance of unity between the human and the divine was being challenged on many fronts. When Sophia attributed “an almost perfect moral character” to the sickly young man, she was recognizing him as an ally in a battle for England’s soul that centered on the nature of mathematics.]

Published: Apr 13, 2022

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