The object of the following Work differs from that of all other works on popular science in its attempt to meet the wants of the Student, while meeting those of the general reader, who is supposed to be wholly unacquainted with anatomy and physiology (This is Volume 2 of a two-volume set.).

This study explores the ways in which George Eliot's involvement with contemporary scientific theory affected the evolution of her fiction. Drawing on the work of such theorists as Comte, Spencer, Lewes, Bain, Carpenter, von Hartmann and Bernard, Dr Shuttleworth shows how, as Eliot moved from Adam Bede to Daniel Deronda, her conception of a conservative, static and hierarchical model of society gave way to a more dynamic model of social and psychological life.