Oxford's Sedleian Professors of Natural Philosophy: The First 400 Years [Hardcover]

This edited volume traces the varied history of Oxford's Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy through the first four centuries of its existence, combining contributions from historians of medicine, science, mathematics, and universities with personal reminiscences of some of the more recent holders of the post.Established in the early seventeenth century following a bequest to the university by Sir William Sedley, Oxford's Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy is one of the university's oldest professorships. In common with other such positions established around this time, such as the Savilian Professorships of Geometry and Astronomy, for example, its purpose was to provide centrally organised lectures on a specific subject.While the Professorship is now a high-profile research post in applied mathematics, it has previously been held by physicians, an astronomer, and several people in the eighteenth century whose credentials in natural philosophy are much less clear.This edited volume traces the varied history of the chair through the first four centuries of its existence, combining specialised contributions from historians of medicine, of science, of mathematics, and of universities, together with personal reminiscences of some of the more recent holders of the post.Foreword,Jon Keating1. Four Centuries of Sedleian Professors,Christopher D. Hollings2. Thomas Willis,Alastair Compston3. The Sedleian Professors of Eighteenth Century: a Theological Turn?,Nigel Aston4. Thomas Hornsby,Jim Bennett5. George Leigh Cooke,Christopher D. Hollings6. Bartholomew Price,Christopher D. Hollings7. Augustus Love,June Barrow-Green8. Sydney Chapman,Peter Cargill9. George Temple and Albert Green,Mark McCartney10. Brooke Benjamin,Tom Mullin and John Toland11. An Interview with John Ball,Mark McCartneyChristopher Hollings,Departmental Lecturer, Ml#ê