Talk:Philip Henry Gosse

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For those of you who missed it the URL of this article was mentioned in the Sunday Times (London) (October 13, 2002) review of Ann Thwaite new book on Philip Henry Gosse . --Imran

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she died a painful death at their London home, and was no longer able to assist with her husband's trips

Does anyone else think that's an odd sentence? --Michael K. Smith 23:48, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

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Need to add explanation of his theory of Prochronism.

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My profound respect for the stunning intellect and talent of Phillip Henry Gosse is reinforced by the knowledge that his brother William, his son Edmund, and his grandson Phillip were ALL brilliant talents in their own right. Brains must be hereditary. Duncan Howell Dec 31/05 ...duncan.howell@nf.sympatico.ca

Recent reverts: 'fanatically religious' in intro paragraph

John, would you agree that if I called someone a keep-fit fanatic (for example) it would be at least as revealing about my standpoint as theirs? If so you can see where I'm coming from on NPOV. I'd be happy to give way on 'despotic' as that's more concrete. A despot might be made to accept that he's despotic, but fanaticism, being always pejorative, is in the eye of the beholder. Can we find our way to a consensus on this? Maybe 'portrayed as a despotic father of uncompromising religious views'? asnac (talk) 15:05, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for that suggestion. I'll spring for "portrayed as a despotic father of uncompromising religious views." My point is only that Edmund Gosse intended that his father be portrayed as a despot and a fanatic. The book is masterful because EG is able to gently communicate that notion while blunting suspicion that he is simply trashing his father and his father's religion.--John Foxe (talk) 15:29, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Appreciated. There must have been many a worse paterfamilias, but EG knew only this one. He does however allow us to empathise with PHG, e.g. in the conflict he experienced between the certainties of his faith and the scholarship of geologists, botanists etc., culminating in his messy Omphalos theorem. asnac (talk) 15:57, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Ann Thwaite's fine biography of PHG nicely outlines EG's errors of fact. To my mind, EG's "empathy" is contrived "more-in-sorrow-than-anger" stuff that simply helps advance his thesis—though I still think Father and Son is masterfully written.--John Foxe (talk) 18:09, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Coinage details

According to the zoological society of London (which runs the zoo), it was originally referred to as an "aquatic vivarium" (and more colloquially, at least at first, the "Fish House"). Later, Gosse used a combination of the two words, and called it an "aquarium", which displeased some, because that already had a meaning in Latin as "a watering place for cattle". Mathglot (talk) 01:46, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

References