Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, translator, historian, mathematician, and teacher. Considered one of the most important social commentators of his time, he presented many lectures during his lifetime with certain acclaim in the Victorian era. One of those conferences resulted in his famous work On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History where he explains that the key role in history lies in the actions of the "Great Man", claiming that "History is nothing but the biography of the Great Man".

A respected historian, his 1837 book The French Revolution: A History was the inspiration for Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities, and remains popular today. Carlyle's 1836 Sartor Resartus is a notable philosophical novel.

A great polemicist, Carlyle coined the term "the dismal science" for economics. He also wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, and his Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question (1849) remains controversial. Once a Christian, Carlyle lost his faith while attending the University of Edinburgh, later adopting a form of deism.

In mathematics, he is known for the Carlyle circle, a method used in quadratic equations and for developing ruler-and-compass constructions of regular polygons.

Works:

  • (1829) Signs of the Times. The Victorian Web
  • (1833–34) Sartor Resartus. Project Gutenberg
  • (1837) The French Revolution: A History. Project Gutenberg
  • (1840) Chartism. Google Books
  • (1841) On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History. Project Gutenberg
  • (1843) Past and Present. Project Gutenberg
  • (1845) Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, with Elucidations, ed. Thomas Carlyle, 3 vol. (often reprinted). Online version. Another online version.
  • (1849) "Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question", Fraser's Magazine (anonymous), Online text
  • (1850) Latter-Day Pamphlets. Project Gutenberg
  • (1851) The Life of John Sterling. Project Gutenberg
  • (1858) History of Friedrich II of Prussia. Index to Project Gutenberg texts
  • (1867) Shooting Niagara: and After. Online Text
  • (1875) The Early Kings of Norway. Project Gutenberg
  • (1882) Reminiscences of my Irish Journey in 1849. Online text