ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses primarily on the British figures so that is exploring one group of 'materialists' and their context in more depth. Moreover, because they were intimately involved in the controversies surrounding evolution, their form of 'materialism' was particularly influential beyond Britain and beyond the nineteenth century. The chapter discusses their strategy for incorporating elements of materialism into Western science, which was based on effectively communicating a redefinition of science to fellow scientists and the British public. Taking into account the social dynamics within mid-Victorian science is crucial to comprehending where materialism fits into the British story. If methodological materialism was to be seen as an integral part of a new vision of science, Thomas Henry Huxley and John Tyndall had to conceive of communication strategy for persuading fellow scientists and the public that scientific naturalism should replace natural theology. Examining the communication strategy of scientific naturalism takes into the new scholarship on print culture, including the popularization of science.
