 Alexander’s first publication, “Hegel’s Conception of Nature” (1886), reveals Alexander’s philosophic upbringing in Oxford’s British Hegelian enclave. Alexander aims to set out Hegel’s conception of nature, “so fantastic and so poetical that it may often be thought not to be serious”, as clearly as possible. He also aims to show where it agrees with, and diverges from, contemporary science. The article explains that science leads to a philosophy of nature through observation—for example, transforming seemingly isolated individuals into universals by discovering their general character—and the discovery of laws. Alexander also compares Hegel’s account to contemporary theories of evolution, and argues there is a “great likeness” (Alexander 1886: 518). Arguably, some of the positions that Alexander attributes to Hegel are similar to his own mature views; for example, Alexander reads Hegel as holding that space and time are “in the world” as much as matter (Alexander 1886: 506).