History Lesson

In her article, "Epic Science," Anna Lena Phillips provides a brief history of poetry and science's intersection. 

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She notes, "In 1791, in his verses about plants, Erasmus Darwin imputed emotions and desires to them. It’s perhaps an understatement to say that, however charming, something like this would not fly today. But in the early 1800s, such fancy was not so far-fetched. According to Hugues Marchal, a professor of literature at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, scientific poetry was seen as a way of promoting the science it described."

She also provides links to papers on the topic.

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For example, the author of ThermoPoetics: Energy in Victorian Literature and Science, Barri J. Gold, states that “I think that we have certain socially engrained beliefs, held by scientists and nonscientists alike, that science can’t be explained in ordinary language to an intelligent nonexpert,” she says. “I don’t agree with that."

See Phillips' history and the related papers here.