The Birth of Modern Science - Paperback

by Paolo Rossi (Author)

This history of the birth of modern science 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.

Back Jacket

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.

Author Biography

Paolo Rossi is Professor emeritus at the University of Florence and member of the "Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei". In 1985 he was awarded the Sarton Medal of the History of Science Society. His previous books in English include Francis Bacon from Magic to Science (1968), Philosophy Technology and the Arts in the Early Modern Era(1970), and The Dark Abyss of Time: The History of the Earth and the History of the Nations from Hooke to Vico (1984)