The Scientific Revolution, from Copernicus to Newton, is now generally recognised as a major turning point in world history. During the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries, new approaches in mathematics and experimental techniques caused traditional assumptions
about the world of nature first to be modified and then to be overthrown. This revolution did not move along a pre-ordered path of progress as is often supposed, nor did the individuals concerned always act in a rational and scientific way. This book offers a perspective in which due weight is given to what has often been dismissed as mere magic. The author covers the entire scientific world from astronomy (Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo) to medicine (Harvey and Vesalius) and philosophy (Descartes and Pascal).
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