Fits, Passions and Paroxysms

Fits, Passions and Paroxysms PDF Author: Alan Elihu Shapiro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521405076
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Shapiro reviews the formulation and reception of Newton's theories on the structure of matter and on fits.

Fits, Passions and Paroxysms

Fits, Passions and Paroxysms PDF Author: Alan Elihu Shapiro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521405076
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Shapiro reviews the formulation and reception of Newton's theories on the structure of matter and on fits.

The Cambridge Companion to Newton

The Cambridge Companion to Newton PDF Author: Rob Iliffe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107015464
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
This new edition includes three updated chapters, a revised bibliography, new introduction and three entirely new chapters.

The Salt of the Earth

The Salt of the Earth PDF Author: Anna Marie Eleanor Roos
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004161767
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Consisting of a series of case studies, this book is devoted to the concept and uses of salt in early modern science, which have played a crucial role in the evolution of matter theory from Aristotelian concepts of the elements to Newtonian chymistry. No reliable study on this subject has been previously available. Its exploration of natural history's and medicine's intersection with chemical investigation in early modern England demonstrates the growing importance of the senses and experience as causes of intellectual change from 1650-1750. It demonstrates that an understanding of the changing definitions of "salt" is also crucial to a historical comprehension of the transition between alchemy and chemistry.

Newton’s Sensorium: Anatomy of a Concept

Newton’s Sensorium: Anatomy of a Concept PDF Author: Jamie C. Kassler
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319720538
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
These chapters analyze texts from Isaac Newton’s work to shed new light on scientific understanding at his time. Newton used the concept of “sensorium” in writings intended for a public audience, in relation to both humans and God, but even today there is no consensus about the meaning of his term. The literal definition of the Latin term 'sensorium', or its English equivalent 'sensory', is 'thing that feels’ but this is a theoretical construct. The book takes readers on a process of discovery, through inquiry into both Newton’s concept and its underlying model. It begins with the human sensorium. This part of his concept is situated in the context of the aforesaid writings but also in the context of the writings of two of Newton's contemporaries, the physicians William Briggs and Thomas Willis, both of whom were at the forefront of their respective specialties of ophthalmology and neurology. Only once the human sensorium has been explored is it possible to generalize to the unobservable divine sensorium, because Newton's method of reasoning from experience requires that the second part of his concept is last in the order of knowledge. And the reason for this sequence is that his method, the short-hand term for which is 'analogy of nature', proceeds from that which has been observed to be universally true to that which is beyond the limits of observation. Consequently, generalization passes insensibly into reasoning by analogy. Readers will see how certain widespread assumptions can be called into question, such as that Newton was a theological voluntarist for whom the will is superior to the intellect, or that, for Newton, not only the world or universe but also God occupies the whole extent of infinite space. The insights afforded through this book will appeal to scholars of the philosophy of science, human physiology, philosophy of mind and epistemology, among others.

Atoms and Alchemy

Atoms and Alchemy PDF Author: William R. Newman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226577031
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Since the Enlightenment, alchemy has been viewed as a sort of antiscience, disparaged by many historians as a form of lunacy that impeded the development of rational chemistry. But in Atoms and Alchemy, William R. Newman—a historian widely credited for reviving recent interest in alchemy—exposes the speciousness of these views and challenges widely held beliefs about the origins of the Scientific Revolution. Tracing the alchemical roots of Robert Boyle’s famous mechanical philosophy, Newman shows that alchemy contributed to the mechanization of nature, a movement that lay at the very heart of scientific discovery. Boyle and his predecessors—figures like the mysterious medieval Geber or the Lutheran professor Daniel Sennert—provided convincing experimental proof that matter is made up of enduring particles at the microlevel. At the same time, Newman argues that alchemists created the operational criterion of an “atomic” element as the last point of analysis, thereby contributing a key feature to the development of later chemistry. Atomsand Alchemy thus provokes a refreshing debate about the origins of modern science and will be welcomed—and deliberated—by all who are interested in the development of scientific theory and practice.

Lenses and Waves

Lenses and Waves PDF Author: Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402026986
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
In 1690, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) published Traité de la Lumière, containing his renowned wave theory of light. It is considered a landmark in seventeenth-century science, for the way Huygens mathematized the corpuscular nature of light and his probabilistic conception of natural knowledge. This book discusses the development of Huygens' wave theory, reconstructing the winding road that eventually led to Traité de la Lumière. For the first time, the full range of manuscript sources is taken into account. In addition, the development of Huygens' thinking on the nature of light is put in the context of his optics as a whole, which was dominated by his lifelong pursuit of theoretical and practical dioptrics. In so doing, this book offers the first account of the development of Huygens' mathematical analysis of lenses and telescopes and its significance for the origin of the wave theory of light. As Huygens applied his mathematical proficiency to practical issues pertaining to telescopes – including trying to design a perfect telescope by means of mathematical theory – his dioptrics is significant for our understanding of seventeenth-century relations between theory and practice. With this full account of Huygens' optics, this book sheds new light on the history of seventeenth-century optics and the rise of the new mathematical sciences, as well as Huygens' oeuvre as a whole. Students of the history of optics, of early mathematical physics, and the Scientific Revolution, will find this book enlightening.

The Diffident Naturalist

The Diffident Naturalist PDF Author: Rose-Mary Sargent
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226734978
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Featuring a figure of early modern science, this text explores Robert Boyle's philosophy of experiment, a central aspect of his life and work. Philosophical, legal, experimental and religious traditions that played a part in shaping Boyle's experimental thought and practice are examined.

Handling "Occult Qualities" in the Scientific Revolution

Handling Author: Xiaona Wang
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004535470
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Focusing on the transformation of the scholastic notion of 'occult qualities' during the Scientific Revolution, this book offers novel insights into the new approaches to early modern science, and the disciplinary realignments that shaped the new physics of the age.

The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution

The Cambridge History of Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution PDF Author: David Marshall Miller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108349862
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 551

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Book Description
The early modern era produced the Scientific Revolution, which originated our present understanding of the natural world. Concurrently, philosophers established the conceptual foundations of modernity. This rich and comprehensive volume surveys and illuminates the numerous and complicated interconnections between philosophical and scientific thought as both were radically transformed from the late sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The chapters explore reciprocal influences between philosophy and physics, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and other disciplines, and show how thinkers responded to an immense range of intellectual, material, and institutional influences. The volume offers a unique perspicuity, viewing the entire landscape of early modern philosophy and science, and also marks an epoch in contemporary scholarship, surveying recent contributions and suggesting future investigations for the next generation of scholars and students.

The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship

The Foundations of Newtonian Scholarship PDF Author: Richard Henry Dalitz
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9810239203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
"Historians of science, teachers and students of the history and philosophy of science and mathematics will be astounded at the difference a few decades of research has made in the assessment of Newton's work. Most heartily recommended to all who seek authoritative and readable glimpses of Newton at work".Choice, 2001