Field

We teachers of English are accused of being a parochial lot, remarks the author in his introduction to this book. "The accusation is sometimes accurate, particularly where our knowledge of the sciences is concerned. Our students, fresh from concepts of 'sets' in mathematics, 'half-life' in chemistry, 'entropy' in physics, and 'homeostasis' in biology, must find us quaint to be unaware not only of the pervasive influence of these scientific concepts but also of their importance to our own field of literary criticism.

To introduce teachers and prospective teachers of English to one of the key concepts of modern science—the Maxwell field theory—and to demonstrate its applications in the teaching of literature, the author first describes the ideas of field theory as they are explored in physics, biology, and psychology and as they have been extended into education. After discussing similar concepts current in the scholarship of the various subject areas of English, particularly language arts and literature, he joins the principles of scientific field theory and the principles of "field" from English studies to provide a structure and a method for an analysis of George R. Stewart's novel Storm, which he uses as an example of a field theory method for preparatory programs for English teachers.

This unusual and provocative book will be of interest not only to teachers of English at all levels but also to anyone concerned with the current controversy over the "two worlds" of science and the humanities.