Birth of Modern Science

Paolo Rossi is Professor emeritus at the University of Florence and member of the "Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei". In 1985 he was awarded the Sarton Medal of the History of Science Society. His previous books in English include Francis Bacon from Magic to Science (1968), Philosophy Technology and the Arts in the Early Modern Era(1970), and The Dark Abyss of Time: The History of the Earth and the History of the Nations from Hooke to Vico (1984)

"Rossi presents in intelligent and informative ways glimpses of the worldviews, concepts, and instruments that are at the root of modern science, and how these came to be ... The book is clearly the work of a scholar who knows his materials and understands what science is all about, making it an eminently good piece of work." Choice "The greatest strength of this work comes out of Rossi's extensive and deep knowledge of the primary sources that he analyzes throughout. His discussions of key texts and of the positions of significant figures are detailed and useful. He provides clear summaries of an impressive number of texts... The nonspecialists targeted as the readers of this work will discover early modern science to be a richly complex and fascinating subject that can be studied with an abundance of primary sources." Pamela O. Long, in Isis

• Series Editor's Preface by Jacques Le Goff. Introduction.1. Obstacles.2. Secrets.3. Engineers.4. The Unseen World.5. A New Universe.6. Galileo.7. Descartes.8. Countless Other Worlds.9. Mechanical Philosophy.10. Chemical Philosophy.11. Magnetic Philosophy.12. The Heart and Generation.13. Time and Nature.14. Classification.15. Instruments and Theories.16. Academies.17. Newton.Chronology.Bibliography.Index.