Includes bibliographical references (pages 254-264) and index
Literature, science, and science fiction -- E.T.A. Hoffmann and the magic of mesmerism -- Mary Shelley’s electric imagination -- The human experiments of Edgar Allan Poe -- Verne’s deep-sea investigations on dry land -- Villiers de L’Isle-Adam’s invention of psychical research -- H.G. Wells in the laboratory -- Conclusion : the progress of literature and science; or, a refrain on interdisciplinarity.