The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution
Authors and Contributors      By (author) David Wootton
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:784
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenreHistory of science
ISBN/Barcode 9780141040837
ClassificationsDewey:509
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
General
Illustrations 16pp colour illustrations

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publication Date 29 September 2016
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The first major history of the Scientific Revolution in more than a generation, by one of the UK's leading intellectual historians We live in a world made by science. How and when did this happen? This book tells the story of the extraordinary intellectual and cultural revolution that gave birth to modern science, and mounts a major challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of its history. David Wootton's landmark book changes our understanding of how this great transformation came about, and of what science is.

Author Biography

David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York. His previous books include Paolo Sarpi (1983), Bad Medicine (2006) and Galileo (2010). He has given the Raleigh Lecture at the British Academy (2008), the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford (2014) and the Benedict Lectures at Boston (2014).

Reviews

The seventeenth century saw the emergence of the mindset that characterizes modern science. David Wootton lucidly describes the individuals, the experiments and the controversies that marked this intellectually turbulent and transformative era. ... This fascinating and scholarly book should receive a wide readership. -- Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, President of the Royal Society 2005-10 This is a superb book, at once cogent, revisionist and profound. It offers the most novel and significant account of the Scientific Revolution to appear for many years ... it is simply rather brilliant. -- Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London A truly remarkable piece of scholarship. His work has an ingenious and innovative linguistic foundation, examining the invention and redefinition of words as tracers of a new understanding of nature and how to approach it. His erudition is awesome, and his argument is convincing. -- Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University A grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science. -- Andrea Wulf * Financial Times *