Why did Alfred North Whitehead use the poetry of William Wordsworth and Percy Bysshe Shelley in Science and the Modern World?

In his 1925 book Science and the Modern World, Alfred North Whitehead utilized the poetry of William Wordsworth and Percy Bysshe Shelley as a powerful counter-argument to the prevailing scientific materialism of his time.1

Whitehead criticized scientific materialism for viewing nature as nothing more than matter in motion, an abstract system that he believed omitted the richness of concrete reality. By appealing to these poets, he sought to challenge the exclusion of values from the natural world. He argued that philosophy must rectify the omissions of scientific abstractions by returning to the variety of human experience and framing broader, more inclusive ideas. Through this literary lens, Whitehead emphasized that nature is not merely a collection of physical energy, but a realm where beauty and humane feeling are integral components of existence.12