{"title":"A Writer’s Universe: John Updike on Physics and Astronomy","authors":"Helge Kragh","doi":"10.1007/s00016-026-00354-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Among the many twentieth-century authors who have been inspired by developments in science, the American novelist and poet John Updike stands out as a fascinating example. Interested in science and its history, he was well informed by his reading of popular science books and journals. From where did he get his information? How did scientists respond to his literary works referring to science, if at all? This paper offers a critical survey of Updike’s science-related writings from the mid-1950s to his death in 2009. Rather than adopting a literary-critical approach, its focus is on the scientific aspects and in particular on those related to physics, astronomy, and cosmology. Although these themes were not essential to Updike’s literary works, neither were they merely ornamental. By locating his writings in the context of history of science they will be provided with an additional dimension not sufficiently appreciated by literary scholars.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":727,"journal":{"name":"Physics in Perspective","volume":"28 3","pages":"264 - 289"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00016-026-00354-3.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Physics in Perspective","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00016-026-00354-3","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Among the many twentieth-century authors who have been inspired by developments in science, the American novelist and poet John Updike stands out as a fascinating example. Interested in science and its history, he was well informed by his reading of popular science books and journals. From where did he get his information? How did scientists respond to his literary works referring to science, if at all? This paper offers a critical survey of Updike’s science-related writings from the mid-1950s to his death in 2009. Rather than adopting a literary-critical approach, its focus is on the scientific aspects and in particular on those related to physics, astronomy, and cosmology. Although these themes were not essential to Updike’s literary works, neither were they merely ornamental. By locating his writings in the context of history of science they will be provided with an additional dimension not sufficiently appreciated by literary scholars.
期刊介绍：
Physics in Perspective seeks to bridge the gulf between physicists and non-physicists through historical and philosophical studies that typically display the unpredictable as well as the cross-disciplinary interplay of observation, experiment, and theory that has occurred over extended periods of time in academic, governmental, and industrial settings and in allied disciplines such as astrophysics, chemical physics, and geophysics. The journal also publishes first-person accounts by physicists of significant contributions they have made, biographical articles, book reviews, and guided tours of historical sites in cities throughout the world. It strives to make all articles understandable to a broad spectrum of readers – scientists, teachers, students, and the public at large. Bibliographic Data Phys. Perspect. 1 volume per year, 4 issues per volume approx. 500 pages per volume Format: 15.5 x 23.5cm ISSN 1422-6944 (print) ISSN 1422-6960 (electronic)
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