Rethinking the Scientific Revolution [Hardcover]

This collection reconsiders canonical figures and the formation of disciplinary boundaries during the Scientific Revolution.This book challenges the traditional historiography of the Scientific Revolution, probably the single most important unifying concept in the history of science. Starting with a dialogue between Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Richard S. Westfall, whose understanding of the Scientific Revolution differed in important ways, the papers in this volume reconsider canonical figures, their areas of study, and the formation of disciplinary boundaries during this seminal period of European intellectual history.This book challenges the traditional historiography of the Scientific Revolution, probably the single most important unifying concept in the history of science. Starting with a dialogue between Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Richard S. Westfall, whose understanding of the Scientific Revolution differed in important ways, the papers in this volume reconsider canonical figures, their areas of study, and the formation of disciplinary boundaries during this seminal period of European intellectual history.The Scientific Revolution (roughly 1500 to 1700) is considered to be the central episode in the history of science, the historical moment when modern science and its attendant institutions emerged. This book challenges the traditional historiography of the Scientific Revolution. Starting with a dialogue between Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs and Richard S. Westfall, whose understanding of the Scientific Revolution differs in important ways, the papers in this volume reconsider canonical figures, their areas of study, and the formation of disciplinary boundaries during this seminal period of European intellectual history.Introduction: the canonical imperative: rethinking the scientific revolution Margaret J. Osler; Part I. The Canon in Question: 1. Newton as final cause and first mover Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs; 2. The scientific revolution reasserted; Part II. Canonical Diló'