Cambridge in the Early 19th Century

In the early 19th century, there was another deep question at the core of the arguments that had been troubling natural philosophers for centuries. What exactly was it that made living matter alive in the first place? These questions, theories, and divisions all ultimately led to the publication of one of the most infamous books of the 19th century as well as an experiment somewhat less famous. In 1819, following the murder of Marianne Weems and the conviction of our killer, a simple miller from the outskirts of London named Thomas Weems. That August, the skies hung grey over the hardened mud of Cambridge's unplowed fields. The summer of 1819 had been another cold, wet period

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