Introduction / Michael Shortland and Richard Yeo -- 1. Existential projects and existential choice in science: science biography as an edifying genre / Thomas Soderqvist -- 2. Life-paths: autobiography, science and the French Revolution / Dorinda Outram -- 3. From science to wisdom: Humphry Davy's life / David Knight -- 4. Robert Boyle and the dilemma of biography in the age of the Scientific Revolution / Michael Hunter -- 5. Alphabetical lives: scientific biography in historical dictionaries and encyclopaedias / Richard Yeo -- 6. The scientist as hero: public images of Michael Faraday / Geoffrey Cantor -- 7. 'Tactful organising and executive power': biographies of Florence Nightingale for girls / Martha Vicinus -- 8. Taking histories, medical lives: Thomas Beddoes and biography / Roy Porter -- 9. The scientist as patron and patriotic symbol: the changing reputation of Sir Joseph Banks / John Gascoigne -- 10. Metabiographical reflections on Charles Darwin / James Moore
