David N. Stamos

This is a specialized book, but I'm not sure of the audience. Poe fans are mostly interested in his poetry, stories, or for students of literature, his literary criticism and reviews. A little known work _Eureka_ was apparently an attempt to explain a theory of the origin and meaning of the universe, which would make it a work of philosophy. However Stamos seems determined to prove that Poe, obviously well read in the scientific literature of his time, anticipated modern theories such as the Big Bang. In the process the author has to review the history of science and of theories about science. I read only half the book before giving up the struggle. Obviously understanding it would require having read _Eureka_ but there seems no reason to do so unless once is convinced that it contains some new truth, or unless one is a Poe scholar. Had we but world enough and time . . .… (altro)