Archives of the Scientific Revolution: The Formation and Exchange of Ideas in Seventeenth-Century Europe

by Michael Hunter, Christiane Demeulenaere-Douyere, Domenico Bertoloni Meli, Frances Harris, James G. O'Hara

Overview

The seventeenth century in Western Europe remains the key time and place for the development of modern science; the basic theme of this book is what the nature of seventeenth-century archives can tell us about this development, through a series of case studies (Boyle, Galileo, Huygens, Newton included).

Manuscript collections created by the individuals and institutions who were responsible for the scientific revolution offer valuable evidence of the intellectual aspirations and working practices of the principal protagonists. This volume is the first to explore such archives, focusing on the ways in which ideas were formulated, stored and disseminated, and opening up understanding of the process of intellectual change. It analyses the characteristics andhistory of the archives of such leading intellectuals as Robert Boyle, Galileo Galilei, G.W. Leibniz, Isaac Newton and William Petty; also considered are the new scientific institutions founded at the time, the Royal Society andthe Académie des Sciences. In each case, significant broader findings emerge concerning the nature and role of such holdings; an introductory essay discusses the interpretation and exploitation of archives.
MICHAEL HUNTERis Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Contributors: MICHAEL HUNTER, MASSIMO BUCCIANTINI, MARK GREENGRASS, ROBERT A. HATCH, FRANCES HARRIS, JOELLA YODER, DOMENICO BERTOLONI MELI, ROB ILIFFE, JAMES G.O'HARA, MORDECHAI FEINGOLD, CHRISTIANE DEMEULENAERE-DOUYRE, DAVID STURDY

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780851155531
Publisher:	Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date:	05/07/1998
Pages:	221
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

‘Image versus Reality: the Archives of the French Académie des Sciences' (with Christiane Demeulenaere-Douyère). -
Introduction - Michael Hunter
Celebration and conservation: the Galilean collection of the national library of Florence - Massimo Bucciantini
Archive refractions: Hartlib's papers and the workings of an intelligencer - Mark Greengrass
Between erudition and science: the archive and correspondence network of Ismaël Bouillau - Robert A. Hatch
Ireland as a laboratory: the archive of Sir William Petty - Frances Harris
The archives of Christiaan Huygens and his editors - Joella G. Yoder
The achive and Consulti of Marcello Malpighi: some preliminary reflections - Domenico Bertoloni Meli
Mapping the mind of Robert Boyle: the evidence of the Boyle papers - Michael Hunter
A ‘connected system'? The snare of a beautiful hand and the unity of Newton's archive - Robert C Iliffe
‘A chaos of jottings that I do not have the leisure to arrange and mark with headings': Leibniz's manuscript papers and their repositoryrepository - James G. O'Hara
Of records and grandeur: the archive of the royal society - Mordechai Feingold
Image versus reality: the archives of the French Académie des Sciences' (with David Sturdy) - Christiane Demeulenaere-Douyere

Editorial Reviews

Excellently illuminates the history of seventeenth-century scientific archives and the problems they present. JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION The reader is left with a profound sense of the fragility of archives, their great power for both revelation and concealment, their complexity, and their individuality. This book is an important contribution for allhistorians.

ANNALS OF SCIENCE

Excellently illuminates the history of seventeenth-century scientific archives and the problems they present. JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATIONThe reader is left with a profound sense of the fragility of archives, their great power for both revelation and concealment, their complexity, and their individuality. This book is an important contribution for allhistorians. ANNALS OF SCIENCE

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