Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Studies in the History of Science

This introduction to the history of science in the seventeenth century examines the so-called 'scientific revolution' in terms of the interplay between the Platonic-Pythagorean tradition, which look on nature in geometric terms, and the mechanical philosophy which conceived of nature as a huge machine.

Prior to the nineteenth century, the practice of medicine in the Western world was as much art as science. But, argues W. F. Bynum, 'modern' medicine as practiced today is built upon foundations that were firmly established between 1800 and the beginning of World War I.

The main theme of this book is the shaping of scientific theories and institutions in Russia and the former Soviet Union by social, economic and political factors. Major sections include the Tsarist period, the impact of the Russian Revolution, and relations between science and Soviet society.

The term 'biology' first appeared in the footnote in a obscure German medical publication of 1800, but a century of activity was needed to create a thriving science. This book offers a concise yet comprehensive examination of essential themes in this development.

Man and Nature in the Renaissance offers an introduction to science and medicine during the earlier phases of the scientific revolution, from the mid-fifteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century. The exact sciences of the period are discussed in detail, as well as religious and philosophical concepts that play little part in the science of our own time.

Science and the Enlightenment is a general history of eighteenth-century science covering both the physical and life sciences. His study is not technical; it will be of interest to all students of the Enlightenment and the history of science, as well as to the general reader with some background in science.

This book presents an evolutionary theory of technological change. It challenges the popular notion that technology advances by the efforts of a few heroic individuals who produce a series of revolutionary inventions owing little or nothing to the technological past.

The Scientific Revolution associated with the names of Galileo and Isaac Newton began in the seventeenth century, but the foundations for that revolution were laid in the late Middle Ages. This 1997 book views the substantive achievements of this period for early modern science within a broad societal and institutional setting that includes Latin translations, Christianity, and the universities.

By focusing on the conceptual issues faced by nineteenth century physicists, this book clarifies the status of field theory, the ether, and thermodynamics in the work of the period. A remarkably synthetic account of a difficult and fragmentary period in scientific development.