Literature holds a mirror to life. It is like a vast deep ocean. It embraces all arts, sciences, philosophy, knowledge and cultures. It is like an ever-swelling stream. Every body can stoop and drink from its waters. It is expression of human emotions, feelings, ideas, impulses, views and opinions, ambitions and aspirations, actions and reactions and the mysterious and the mystical.
All creative and great writers and thinkers express the tendencies of the age in which they live. Science is creative like literature. The great writers and men of letters can not be indifferent to the scientific ideas and developments. It is a fundamental shift in human history.
Science has made gradual progress during last 300 years. It has revolutionized our lives. It is an instrument of great philosophic and social significance. Literature is essentially an interpretation of life. Different literary forms are techniques for its expression. Modern writers, therefore, are deeply influenced by and concerned with scientific and tech. developments. Some western writers are great exponents of the scientific ideas and theories.
A. Pope in his famous poem ‘Essay on Man’ shows disapproval of Newton’s theory of the universe being a machine. It is against concept of God. W. Blake and Keats also expressed the same feelings in their poems.
Likewise, protests are voiced against the Industrial Revolution by many 19th century writers of Prose and fiction, Carlyle’s book – Past and Present contain such protests. The 20th-century writers are great exponents of Scientific and technological developments. They use both drama and fiction for expressing their ideas.
The following are some names of writers and their books:
Dr. H. Lawrence – Woman in Love
Nigel Belchin – The Small Backroom
Sir Charles Snow – The New Man
H. G. Wells – The First Man to the Moon, War of the Worlds & Time Machine. Modern dramas, fictions, Poetry, biography, fantasy and utopia, all express the tendencies of the space. age. James Joyce and Lawrence are in the forefront.
The two specific forms of imaginative prose writing are Scientific fiction and scientific utopia. Space travel stories by H.G. Wells, Edger Allen Poe, Jules Verne and Samuel Butler have great charm for the readers.
For last three centuries, scientific themes have inspired the novelists, dramatists, poets, thinkers and philosophers. The Modern Script Writers for T.V. and writers for magazines and news papers also cater for the public tastes. Today science is a hub of way of life. There have been writers both for the against science and its achievements.
