The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science

An innovative biography of Edgar Allan Poe—highlighting his fascination and feuds with science We all think we know Poe—the most popular American writer around the world, dissolute puzzle-maker, pioneer of detective fiction, and author of haunting, atmospheric verse. But what if there was another side to the man who wrote “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”? In The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, John Tresch offers a bold new life of one of the nineteenth century’s most iconic writers. Shining a spotlight on an era when the lines between speculation, entertainment, and scientific inquiry were blurred, Tresch reveals Poe as much more than a science fiction writer—in fact, he was an avid commentator on scientific and technical developments, publishing and hustling in literary scenes that also hosted lectures and demonstrations by the era’s most prominent scientists, semi-scientists, and pseudo-intellectual rogues. As one newspaper put it, “Mr. Poe is not merely a man of science—not merely a poet—not merely a man of letters. He is all combined; and perhaps he is something more.”