Species, serpents, spirits, and skulls : science at the margins of the Victorian age / Sherrie Lynne Lyons.

Albany : SUNY Press, [2009], ©2009.

xiv, 245 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : an age of transition -- Swimming at the edges of scientific respectability : sea serpents, Charles Lyell, and the professionalization of geology -- Franz Gall, Johann Spurzheim, George Combe, and phrenology : a science for everyone -- The crisis in faith : William Crookes and spiritualism -- Morals and materialism : Alfred Russel Wallace, spiritualism, and the problem of evolution -- Thatige skepsis : Thomas Huxley and evolutionary theory -- Negotiating the boundaries of science : an ongoing process.