Scientific Themes in the Popular Literature and the Poetry of the German Enlightenment, 1720-1760

The first part of this study considers the main foreign and negative sources for the dissemination of science. The contents of a diverse popular science literature are discussed. In the second part, the poets of the period are taken up individually, in chronological order, and the scientific themes in their poetry are identified. The works of more than fifty poets are involved in this section. In the third part the dominant themes are selected and traced through the authors discussed in the second part.