Author: Gribbin, John
Publisher: Allen Lane
Year: 2005
ISBN: 0713997451
Binding: Hard Cover
Book Condition: As New
Jacket Condition: As New
Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Description:
New book, 336 pages. In the seventeenth century, as England was racked by civil war, plague and fire, another tumultuous event was also taking place: the revolution in science. It was the end of a world ruled by supposition, superstition and magic, and the beginning of a new method of thinking based on proof end experiment. And at the heart of this Renaissance were the founding fathers of modern wester science: the Royal Society. This book explores how the Society grew out of a series of meetings of 'natural philosophers' in Oxford and London, and brings its prime movers to life, including: William Gilbert, the first man to test a theory by scientific methods; Francis Bacon, the extravagant, hedonistic philosopher who created the ideal image of the scientist; William Harvey, who carried out gruesome experiments on the circulation of blood; Christopher Wren, then more famous as an astronomer than architect; Robert Moray, a spy for Cardinal Richelieu; the hot tempered Robert Hooke, who transformed the Royal Society's fortunes yet whose work was written out of history; and his ambitious rival, Isaac Newton, who finally established the model od a universe that follows precise mechanical laws, not the whim of gods. This compelling book shows how the triumph of the revolution that changed the world - and still continues 350 years later - was ultimately not the work of one isolated genius, but of a Fellowship.