The Cosmic Web: Scientific Field Models and Literary Strategies in the 20th Century

by N. Katherine Hayles

From the central concept of the field―which depicts the world as a mutually interactive whole, with each part connected to every other part by an underlying field― have come models as diverse as quantum mathematics and Saussure’s theory of language. In The Cosmic Web , N. Katherine Hayles seeks to establish the scope of the field concept and to assess its importance for contemporary thought. She then explores the literary strategies that are attributable directly or indirectly to the new paradigm; among the texts at which she looks closely are Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , Nabokov’s Ada, D. H. Lawrence’s early novels and essays, Borges’s fiction, and Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.

Genres: Nonfiction, Physics, Criticism, Literary Criticism

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hayles first book. This book is about the field metaphor in sciences & how five different authors approach it from a narrative perspective. Her chapter about pynchon is great. So is the Nabokov chapter. The others are also good but I am less interested in their works. There are themes in this that she develops further in later work (cognitive conscious, a phrase from the pynchon chapter) and it is cool to see those in their early forms.
I'm not a big fiction reader, I find hayles' writing about science philosophy through literay analysis to be quite novel and interesting.

[Jennifer-Lynn Christie]

I tried reading this book a few months ago but ended up shelving it as a “maybe later” read. I finally got around to it, and I must say, it’s one of those books you need to revisit. It was quite intriguing, and I had to consult a dictionary a few times since French is my first language. I found it incredibly interesting and learned a lot from it. Could I explain it to someone else? Not off the top of my head—maybe if I sat down with the book and took detailed notes, lol.

[Chelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read most of the text, the parts relevant for my uni work - so insightful, an immense amount of research and high level of intelligence went into this book!