Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge and its Ambitions, 1500-1700 - Second Edition / Edition 2

by Peter Dear

Overview

From Copernicus, who put the earth in orbit around the sun, to Isaac Newton, who gave the world universal gravitation, the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries transformed the way Europeans understood their world. In this book, Peter Dear offers an accessible introduction to the origins of modern science for students and general readers. This second edition further explores the practice and influence of alchemy, the social standing of early scientists, and the role of medicine and medical practitioners.

• Provides a comprehensive overview of principal themes and topics
• Discusses central figures, including Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, and describes the world in which they lived—and the new world they helped create
• Features a rich variety of illustrations, a glossary of terms, and a list of further reading

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691142067
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/26/2009
Edition description:	Second
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Peter Dear is professor of history and science and technology studies at Cornell University.

Table of Contents

Preface vii
Introduction: Philosophy and Operationalism 1
1. "What was Worth Knowing" in 1500 10
2. Humanism and Ancient Wisdom: How to Learn Things in the Sixteenth Century 30
3. The Scholar and the Craftsman: Paracelsus, Gilbert, Bacon 49
4. Mathematics Challenges Philosphy: Galileo, Kepler, and the Surveyors 65
5. Mechanism: Decartes Builds a Universe 80
6. Extra-Curricular Activities: New Homes for Natural Knowledge 101
7. Experiment: How to Learn Things about Nature in the Seventeenth Century 131
8. Cartesians and Newtonians 149
Conclusion: What was Worth Knowing by the Eighteenth Century 168
Notes and References 171
Documentation and Further Reading 181
Dramatis Personae 193
Glossary of Major Terms 197
Ondex 201

What People are Saying About This

Marisa Linton

It is lucid,well written and shows a thorough command of the subject matter. The author succeeds admirably in making complex ideas intelligible and interesting for readers and employs effective examples to illustrate the changing nature of scientific thought.

Simon Ditchfield

This book is a clear first choice for students and teachers. Incorporating cutting-edge scholarship, it matches breadth of thematic coverage with clarity of exposition and takes the reader gently but firmly through the field.
— Simon Ditchfield, University of York

From the Publisher

"This book is a clear first choice for students and teachers. Incorporating cutting-edge scholarship, it matches breadth of thematic coverage with clarity of exposition and takes the reader gently but firmly through the field."—Simon Ditchfield, University of York

"Succinct, well-organized, and clearly written, this is an excellent account of the intellectual transformation of our understanding of the natural world between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries."—Paula Findlen, Stanford University

John Henry

This is an entirely excellent work and it will make an important contribution to our understanding of the development of early modern science.

Paula Findlen

It is a pleasure to have someone with Peter Dear's knowledge and ability take on the problem of the textbook. Dear includes both the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in his survey and gives the reader a clear and informative account of some of the basic philosophical issues in natural philosophy. His chapters are economically written and well designed to cover broad and important issues. Dear's work addresses a lacuna by providing a chronologically organized introduction to the context and events of the scientific revolution.

Editorial Reviews

"[Dear] throws interesting light on the changing criteria used to evaluate natural knowledge, especially the increasing emphasis on experiment. . . . As a full and accurate account of such matters, this book is the best available, and I would recommend it to anyone."—-Michael Hunter, Nature

"Bibliography, index and footnotes of the booklet are exceptionally comprehensive."—-Silke G¨obel, Zentralblatt MATH

From the Publisher

Bibliography, index and footnotes of the booklet are exceptionally comprehensive.

Zentralblatt MATH - Silke Gobel

Bibliography, index and footnotes of the booklet are exceptionally comprehensive.
— Silke Göbel

Zentralblatt MATH Database

[Dear] throws interesting light on the changing criteria used to evaluate natural knowledge, especially the increasing emphasis on experiment. . . . As a full and accurate account of such matters, this book is the best available, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Nature - Michael Hunter

[Dear] throws interesting light on the changing criteria used to evaluate natural knowledge, especially the increasing emphasis on experiment. . . . As a full and accurate account of such matters, this book is the best available, and I would recommend it to anyone.
— Michael Hunter

Nature