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Comment by Gwyn on May 18, 2013 at 5:44pm

"A Philosopher lecturing on the Orrery" (1766) by Joseph Wright

Since Steampunk is sort of a neo/Renaissance enlightenment movement in itself, you may be interested in looking into the various early ones which brought science (experimental as well), philosophy and romanticism together as well as leading the way to the industrial (r)evolution, such as the European Enlightenment and the Scottish Enlightenment. Although earlier than the Victorian era, they helped forged new ways of thinking, as did many ‘enlightened’ men even further back in history.

Comment by Gwyn on May 18, 2013 at 4:38pm

Charles (his theories and studies in nature) was influenced by his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, a physician and "one of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist, inventor and poet." (Wiki)