CFP - The Preserves of the Imagination in Victorian Science

We invite paper proposals for a panel on "The Preserves of the Imagination in Victorian Science" for NAVSA's 2017 conference. This panel explores the role and domain of the imagination in Victorian science. Topics may include:

• Invitations for readers of scientific texts to imagine experiences or objects
• Thought experiments
• Fictional scientific objects (e.g. the ether)
• Scientific models and modeling in the Victorian period
• Role of the imagination in scientific practice/discovery
• Risks of imagining/hypothesizing
• Scientific creativity
• Imaginative pursuits of Victorian scientists

Papers dealing with Victorian physics are particularly welcomed. Please send 500-word abstracts to krie0210@umn.edu or acobblah@umich.edu by January 13th.