The life and work of philosopher and writer Herbert Spencer, in five pieces of trivia
1. He had a bit of a fling with novelist George Eliot. The friendship of Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and Mary Ann Evans (or George Eliot) represents a true meeting of minds: Eliot was a multi-talented writer, translator, and thinker who incorporated many contemporary scientific and philosophical ideas into her fiction, and Spencer was a key proponent of evolutionary biology. At one point it looked as though romance might be in the air, but Spencer was put off by Eliot’s unconventional looks. Eliot later met and hooked up with George Henry Lewes, becoming his common-law wife. Spencer was a man of intense moods, and owned an ‘angry suit’ which he would don whenever he was feeling especially peevish.