Cambridge Science Biographies
2 total works
In this elegant and absorbing biography of Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Rupert Hall surveys the vast field of modern scholarship in order to interpret Newton's mathematical and experimental approach to nature. Mathematics was always the deepest, the most innovative and the most productive of Newton's interests. However, Newton as historian, theologian, chemist, civil servant and natural philosopher is also part of the picture. Clearly these many diverse studies were to an extent unified in Newton's single design as a Christian to explore every facet of God's creation, not least his ways and purposes in relation to humanity. The story of Isaac Newton's life and discoveries has been greatly altered by exploration of his huge manuscript legacy during the last thirty to forty years. This research has thrown new light upon both his personality and his intellect. Rupert Hall's discussion of this research shows that Newton cannot be simply explained as a Platonist, mystic or magus. He remains a complex and enigmatic genius with a mind both immensely imaginative and commonsensical.
Henry More (1614-87) was the greatest English metaphysical theologian and the most perplexing; he was also perhaps the most distinguished member of the group of divines known as the Cambridge Platonists. An admirer of Galileo, Descartes, and Boyle, he rejected their detailed applications of mechanical philosophy to the explanation of natural phenomena. He was an experimenter, yet also a cabbalist and one of the few writers whom Newton acknowledged as having influenced his ideas. This thorough and accessible biography is the first book-length treatment of this remarkable character. More's important contributions to science are illuminated, particularly his work on space and time which influenced Newton, and the book gives fascinating insights into his spiritual philosophy and his preoccupation with witchcraft. The depth of Professor Hall's scholarship makes the book an exceptional account of the turbulent world of the Scientific Revolution.