The nineteenth century produced an extraordinary group of British writers and scientists. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) wrote sweeping novels of social criticism — Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House — that transformed how the country saw itself. Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) wrote of rural Wessex; the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) produced Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights from their Yorkshire parsonage.
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Charles Darwin (1809–1882) revolutionised biology with his book On the Origin of Species in 1859, which set out the theory of evolution by natural selection. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) built bridges, tunnels and railways including the Great Western Railway. Florence Nightingale founded modern nursing in the same period.
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