Isaac Newton and Natural PhilosophyIsaac Newton is one of the greatest scientists in history, yet the spectrum of his interests was much broader than that of most contemporary scientists. In fact, Newton would have defined himself not as a scientist, but as a natural philosopher. He was deeply involved in alchemical, religious, and biblical studies, and in the later part of his life he played a prominent role in British politics, economics, and the promotion of scientific research. Newton’s pivotal work Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which sets out his laws of universal gravitation and motion, is regarded as one of the most important works in the history of science. Niccolò Guicciardini’s enlightening biography offers an accessible introduction both to Newton’s celebrated research in mathematics, optics, mechanics, and astronomy and to how Newton viewed these scientific fields in relation to his quest for the deepest secrets of the universe, matter theory and religion. Guicciardini sets Newton the natural philosopher in the troubled context of the religious and political debates ongoing during Newton’s life, a life spanning the English Civil Wars, the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, and the Hanoverian succession. Incorporating the latest Newtonian scholarship, this fast-paced biography broadens our perception of both this iconic figure and the great scientific revolution of the early modern period. |
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Page 8
... God or even of defending the anti-Trinitarian heresy, namely the denial of the teaching held by the majority of Christian denominations after the fourth-century ad ecumenical councils according to which God is three distinct 'hypostases ...
... God or even of defending the anti-Trinitarian heresy, namely the denial of the teaching held by the majority of Christian denominations after the fourth-century ad ecumenical councils according to which God is three distinct 'hypostases ...
Page 15
... God and Nature (1756). The prevailing interpretation in Britain, a few decades after Newton's death, when the memory of Newton in the flesh had faded, was that in addition to being a great natural philosopher, he was also a Christian in ...
... God and Nature (1756). The prevailing interpretation in Britain, a few decades after Newton's death, when the memory of Newton in the flesh had faded, was that in addition to being a great natural philosopher, he was also a Christian in ...
Page 19
... God pantocràtor? Or, maybe, 'the last of the Sumerians', a mystical restorer of the esoteric pagan wisdom of Hermes or a follower of Maimonides? We should take into account that these questions, emerging in the mid-twentieth century in ...
... God pantocràtor? Or, maybe, 'the last of the Sumerians', a mystical restorer of the esoteric pagan wisdom of Hermes or a follower of Maimonides? We should take into account that these questions, emerging in the mid-twentieth century in ...
Page 34
... God, and an interest in the applications of the new science which could serve society, would all be elements of a scientific practice in harmony with the moral ideals of Puritanism. This influential thesis, now considered one-sided and ...
... God, and an interest in the applications of the new science which could serve society, would all be elements of a scientific practice in harmony with the moral ideals of Puritanism. This influential thesis, now considered one-sided and ...
Page 39
... God (and here Newton read and compared the opposing views of Hobbes's De corpore (1655) and Henry More's Immortality of the Soul (1659)). It is a list whose scope and apparent heterogeneity may be disconcerting for readers unfamiliar ...
... God (and here Newton read and compared the opposing views of Hobbes's De corpore (1655) and Henry More's Immortality of the Soul (1659)). It is a list whose scope and apparent heterogeneity may be disconcerting for readers unfamiliar ...
Contents
7 | |
22 | |
42 | |
3 A Young Professor and His Audience 16691674 | 76 |
4 A Maturing Scholar 16751683 | 102 |
5 Natural Philosopher 16841695 | 143 |
6 The Last Years 16961727 | 180 |
Chronology | 233 |
References | 237 |
Bibliography | 253 |
Acknowledgements | 257 |
Photo Acknowledgements | 259 |
Index | 261 |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute space according to Newton alchemical alchemist algebra ancient anti-Trinitarian astronomical Barrow Bentley biblical bodies Boyle calculus Cambridge Cartesian Catholic causes century chronology Church colours comets Commercium conception contemporaries corpuscles corpuscular correspondence cosmology curves defended Descartes distance divine Earth edition Edmond Halley ematical England ether experimental experiments experimentum crucis fact Fatio geometry Glorious Revolution God’s Halley Hooke Hooke’s Huygens Hypothesis idea illus infinite number Isaac Barrow Isaac Newton Johann Bernoulli John Kepler King’s laws of motion Leibniz London Lucasian Lectures magnetic manuscripts mathematicians matter mechanical philosophy metals metaphysical method method of fluxions Micrographia natural philosophy Newton’s early Newton’s mathematical Newtonian observed Opticks optics orbit particles phenomena planetary motion planets political Principia principles prism problems published Queries refraction religion religious Robert Boyle Royal Society Scholium soul stars Stephen Snobelen surface telescope texts theological theory of colours tion trajectories University white light