Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science

by Renée Bergland

A captivating portrait of the poet and the scientist who shared an enchanted view of nature

Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time when the science of studying the natural world was known as natural philosophy, a pastime for poets, priests, and schoolgirls. The world began to change in the 1830s, while Darwin was exploring the Pacific aboard the Beagle and Dickinson was a student in Amherst, Massachusetts. Poetry and science started to grow apart, and modern thinkers challenged the old orthodoxies, offering thrilling new perspectives that suddenly felt radical—and too dangerous for women.

Natural Magic intertwines the stories of these two luminary nineteenth-century minds whose thought and writings captured the awesome possibilities of the new sciences and at the same time strove to preserve the magic of nature. Just as Darwin’s work was informed by his roots in natural philosophy and his belief in the interconnectedness of all life, Dickinson’s poetry was shaped by her education in botany, astronomy, and chemistry, and by her fascination with the enchanting possibilities of Darwinian science. Casting their two very different careers in an entirely fresh light, Renée Bergland brings to life a time when ideas about science were rapidly evolving, reshaped by poets, scientists, philosophers, and theologians alike. She paints a colorful portrait of a remarkable century that transformed how we see the natural world.

Illuminating and insightful, Natural Magic explores how Dickinson and Darwin refused to accept the separation of art and science. Today, more than ever, we need to reclaim their shared sense of ecological wonder.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Nature, Poetry, Biography, Biology

441 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2024

Reviews

[Liv Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

this went super hard actually you’ll always be famous emily dickinson they could never make me hate you charles darwin

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s weird being the first reviewer on Goodreads of this title, but here goes my reactions to the audiobook through Libro.FM.

It’s a very niche title that compares two of the most well known names of their generation even though they had never met. While interesting, the tenets that keep the connections are strained at times making me feel like I really had to be engaged with the topics of science while listening. However, that is the beauty of magic— a commonality can bind us together, no?

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. A beautiful dance of science and poetry, enlivened by nature and magic.
there's even some fascinating history. Wonderful.

[Natalia Murcia Cencerrado · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually have so many thoughts about this book maybe I will write a review on my blog 🫦

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about the mutual interests of Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin at the intersection of science and awe (magic), which veered toward mutual exclusivity in their lifetimes.
I would have liked less repetitiveness in the language and content.

[Anna montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

- All biographies should be dual biographies
- May the slow-motion removal of the humanities from higher education be accompanied by its re enchantment
- Loved/lol'd at the solar punk ending
- S/o to ben lazier

[Becky Lockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great exploration of the science of Emily Dickinson's time. The author makes some assumptions and errors that should not be in a scholarly work.

[Cynthia Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and thought provoking book. It starts as a discussion of the concept of "Natural Magic." "Natural Magic" was the term used prior to the 19th century to describe the beauty and mysteries ( gravity, electro-magnetic impulses, climate phenomenon) of Nature. Science (the term had not even been coined at this point) and Nature were viewed in a more holistic manner. They were not at odds with each other, but rather partners in explaining and describing our gorgeous and often inexplicable world. The author also spends a significant amount of time explaining how what we would consider the sciences (subjects like biology, chemistry, and botany) were taught almost exclusely to women. Men were educated in the classics.

The latter portions of this work intertwine the life stories of Charles Darwin and Emily Dickenson. Though alternating chapters, the author provides succinct yet meaningful biographies of both.
The major events in their lives are addressed. Darwin's works are discussed as are many of Dickenson's poems. I came away with a good understanding of both. Though Darwin and Dickenson never met and there is no evidence that they ever corresponded, the author finds commonality in their works and lives. Both believed in the interconnectedness of life and both reveled in the beauty of the natural world. In this sense, they both believed in "Natural Magic".

This book is very repetitious. Also, many assumptions are made. Most about Dickenson. I also found some of the interpretations regarding Dickenson's poetry, especially when making a correlation to Darwin's theories, were a bit of a stretch. In addition, I could have done without the last chapter's heavy handed polemic about climate change.

All in all, this is an interesting and informative book that adds light to the lives of Darwin and Dickenson and the concept of "Natural Magic.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily Dickinson and Charles Darwin were born at a time (early 1800s) when the study of nature and artistic expression were intermingled. The world began to change when Darwin sailed on the Beagle and Dickerson studied at Amherst. Art and science began to grow apart.

Per one back cover blurb, Author Renee Bergland “juxtaposes two passionate observers of the natural world to explore the poetry in Darwin and the science in Dickinson.” The book jacket says “Natural Magic explores how Dickinson and Darwin refused to accept the separation of art and science.”

Dickinson (US) and Darwin (UK) never met. They arguably had one friend in common who arguably had correspondence from both at the same time.

This book is a whole lot of supposing, one half of which was near incomprehensible to me as I am far from a student of poetry. Far easier for me to appreciate the poetry in Darwin, as I have long admired the beauty of his writing in On the Origin of Species. I also appreciate that to Darwin, “science itself was as full of change and possibility as it had even been. It was perfectly fitting that he had become an icon of uncertainty.” In other words, Darwin didn’t settle the science; he opened it up. He was a dreamer, in the best way.

As for the Dickinson/Darwin parallels, the book didn’t quite land for me.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting contemplation of how the biographies of Charles Darwin and Emily Dickinson intertwined with the development and death of natural theology. I thought the chapter comparing the childhoods of Darwin and Dickinson was a bit of a stretch, and several other near-connections seemed tenuous. But it made me contemplate the social and knowledge contexts of both people's work in more detail, and taught me about both of their lives.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

really chuffed to be done with this book — fascinating concept but felt like reading someone’s literature review for their thesis, so many digressions that i don’t feel like aided the overall argument but demonstrated immense research

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Both Dickinson and Darwin are such an inspiration in both the written word and their love of nature. The author did a great job of paralleling their lives and painting a picture that highlights their qualities and uniqueness in the timeframe in which they lived.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Ona · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

good stuff in this book, and credit to the author for it, but it's a bit sloggy. If it's 500 pages, it sorta feels like it coulda been 300

[Polly Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating idea for a book, to toggle back and forth between these two 19th Century giants!

[Mark Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book examines the intersection of two of the great minds of the 19th century - Darwin and Dickinson. Two people who never lost the spirit of wonder when looking at nature - one through the lens of a scientist and the other as a poet.

[NDH · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review of this book in ‘National Review’ (Sept 2024) struck a chord. Dickinson’s and Darwin’s “desire for the integration and synthesis of the things of the material world, without sacrificing the sense that the physical universe remained a place of mystery and marvel,” suggested Baudelaire’s “Echoes” and “Correspondences”, or, better yet, Flannery O’Connor/Teilhard de Chardin’s “Everything that rises must converge.” Transcendentalism. Spiritualism. Electro-Magnetism. The 19th century mind, its worldview and constellations, remain a mystery to me. I had hoped in some small way to get inside Emily’s and Charles’ heads and those of their contemporaries.
To that extent, this book did not disappoint. I particularly appreciate the footnotes and bibliography, and look forward to reading “Darwin’s Bards” among other serendipitous discoveries. I’ve not read much of Dickinson and certainly less of Darwin himself, so I have that to look forward to. I feel a wee bit like Keats looking into Chapman’s Homer.
At the same time, I think the links-evolutionary or otherwise-from Darwin to Dickinson are a bit weak, to put it mildly. They both liked dogs. And flowers. James Russell Lowell was one of Darwin’s pallbearers and Emily read the Atlantic Monthly which JRL edited at some point and where Asa Gray’s July 1860 review of Origin of Species “was probably the first place Emily Dickinson learned of Darwin’s idea about evolution.” There are an awful lot of probably’s and maybe’s and may have’s and perhaps’s scattered throughout this book. I get it that not much is known of Emily’s life, but excessive speculation seems to be a mainstay here. Indeed, there may be as much or more of a connection (specifically, Thomas Wentworth Higginson) between Emily Dickinson and abolitionist John Brown as there is between Dickinson and Darwin. One must read this attentively.
I should also add that, as a biography of Charles Darwin, this is very enjoyable. When I listened to the National Review-sponsored podcast The Great Books (Episode 329) “On the Origin of Species”, I’d have thought that Ms. Bergland (the interviewee and author of this book) was an expert on Darwin rather than a professor of literature and creative writing. She seems to really know her Darwin.
There are very minor editorial errors in this book (at least two “it’s” that should be “its”) and a missing word here and there. There is some—too much—repetition and a certain amount of “chaos” at times, as if RB has too much material that all deserved to be included but was hard to integrate smoothly. Perhaps the editor could have tightened up some passages. I should mention that I do a LOT of underlining and !?*-ing, and there are a few places where I scribbled “rubbish”, “gibberish”, or “gag-worthy” in the margin. For the record, I wasn’t at all interested in RB’s religion, i.e., her Sermon on Climate Change with which she ended the book.
Given the tenuousness of the Darwin-Dickinson linkage, I found myself often reminded of a sentiment attributed to one George Tyrell to the effect that ‘looking deep into the well of history one often sees oneself’. I suppose the same is true when gazing through the telescope or microscope of history. We see there what we want to see, like the face of Jesus in a piece of avocado toast.
Nonetheless, in the end, I learned something about both the 19th century mind, and the 21st century mind. I’ll give this a solid 4.