In this ambitious new interdisciplinary study, Useche proposes the metaphor of the social foundry to parse how industrialization informed and shaped cultural and national discourses in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spain. Here, Useche offers fresh readings of canonical writers such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Concha Espina, Benito Pérez Galdós, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, and José Echegaray as well as lesser known authors.

Agust Nieto-Galan argues that chemistry in the twentieth century was deeply and profoundly political. Far from existing in a distinct public sphere, chemical knowledge was applied in ways that created strong links with industrial and military projects, and national rivalries and international endeavours, that materially shaped the living conditions of millions of citizens. It is within this framework that Nieto-Galan analyses how Spanish chemists became powerful ideological agents in different political contexts, from liberal to dictatorial regimes, throughout the century. He unveils chemists' position of power in Spain, their place in international scientific networks, and their engagement in fierce ideological battles in an age of extremes. Shared discourses between chemistry and liberalism, war, totalitarianism, religion, and diplomacy, he argues, led to advancements in both fields.

Charles Darwin is a crucial figure in nineteenth-century science with an extensive and varied reception in different countries and disciplines. His theory had a revolutionary impact not only on biology, but also on other natural sciences and the new social sciences. The term 'Darwinism', already popular in Darwin's lifetime, ranged across many different areas and ideological aspects, and his own ideas about the implications of evolution for human cognitive, emotional, social and ethical capacities were often interpreted in a way that did not mirror his own intentions. The implications for religious, philosophical and political issues and institutions remain as momentous today as in his own time. This volume conveys the many-sidedness of Darwin's reception and exhibit his far-reaching impact on our self- understanding as human beings.