This history of the birth of modern science is ideal for those engaging with the subject for the first time. It shatters the illusion that science is 'dry' and divorced from culture by exploring the powerful clashes between traditions and value systems that gave rise to it. The author shows how many of the characteristics that distinguish science today emerged in the midst of the wars and plagues of the seventeenth century and defines what was new about this form of knowledge.Rossi's account covers topics such as the new astronomy, discoveries made with microscopes, the principle of inertia, experiments on voids, and the circulatory system. Alongside these, each chapter also addresses the great ideas that were central to this intellectual revolution: the new appraisal of technology, a new view of God as an engineer or clock maker, the introduction of the dimension of time into the study of nature, and so on. This passionate book will enable readers to engage with the complex relationship of science and philosophy.
- ISBN10 0631205624
- ISBN13 9780631205623
- Publish Date 21 April 2001
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 30 September 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
- Imprint Blackwell Publishers
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 288
- Language English