A. Rupert Hall - Böcker

This new work by one of this century's most eminent Newtonian scholars - Rupert Hall - brings together for the first time the early eighteenth century biographical notices of Sir Isaac Newton. The centrepiece of the book is a brand new translation of Paolo Frisi's biography, the first published on Newton in 1778. Also included are the biographies by Fontenelle (1727), Thomas Birch (1738), Charles Hutton (1795), and John Conduitt. Each translation is accompanied by a commentary by Professor Hall. A brief biography and a bibliography of Newton have also been included for the reader. This book will be an extremely valuable addition to the works on Newton, and provide a fascinating text for historians of science

This fifth volume presents the surviving correspondence from the period of almost four years which is, from a bibliographical point of view, the most important time in Newton's life: with Roger Cotes, Newton revised his Philosophise Naturalis Principia Mathematics and saw it through the press. Considered as a single group of letters, the Newton-Cotes correspondence is the largest and most important section of Newton's scientific correspondence that we have. Nowhere else can one witness Newton in a detailed debate about scientific argument and scientific conclusions - a debate from which he did not always emerge victorious. Nowhere else does Newton write in detail about the text of the Principia. And all scholars agree that this text which was hammered out between Cotes and Newton was the most important of all versions, printed and unprinted; this was (to all intents and purposes) the Principia of subsequent history.

As Newton had by now entered his eighth decade, it can be no surprise that the correspondence in this sixth volume shows a marked decline in his activity and intellectual vigour. While the number of extant letters written by him on other that Mint business is relatively small, the majority of them are devoted to his controversy with Leibniz - Newton's dominant interest during this period. The correspondence of Newton shades gradually into the correspondence of the Newtonians. Thus notably Keill, De Moivre, Chamberlayne, Brook Taylor, the Abbe Conti and Des Maizeaux interested themselves in the calculus dispute, all of them (except the first) having frequent opportunities for personal conversation with Newton.

In this seventh and final volume the letters are divided into two quite distinct groups. The first group begins with the remaining letters of the main chronological sequence written during the closing years of Newton's life, and then proceeds to those few letters to which there is no assignable date with any certainty. The second group of letters, placed in Appendix I, contains corrections and additions to the letters printed in the earlier volumes of the Correspondence. A genealogical table is added to Appendix II to help the reader through the intricacies of Newton's family tree. Even after the creative power of his genius had deserted him, Newton retained to the very end of his long life the characteristic clarity of his thought. Few of Newton's letters in this volume may justly be described as scientific. The relative inactivity of the Mint meant that, although he apparently delegated few of his responsibilities to others, Newton's concerns there were no onerous. Thus it is not surprising that in the last nine years of his life (the period covered in this volume), and particularly from 1725 onwards, there was a decrease in Newton's output of letters; but those which he did write remain as lucid as ever.

First published in 1962, this volume collects together some of Newton's most important scientific papers. Chosen primarily to illustrate Newton's ideas on the nature of matter, the papers afford valuable insights into Newton's development as a scientist and his ideas of the world that science explores. The six sections are entitled: Mathematics, Mechanics, Theory of Matter, Manuscripts related to the Principia, Education and Notes. Each section has a critical introduction to set the manuscripts in perspective and to discuss their implications. English translations of the Latin documents are given.

Henry More (1614-87) was the greatest English metaphysical theologian and the most perplexing; he was also perhaps the most distinguished member of the group of divines known as the Cambridge Platonists. An admirer of Galileo, Descartes, and Boyle, he rejected their detailed applications of mechanical philosophy to the explanation of natural phenomena. He was an experimenter, yet also a cabbalist and one of the few writers whom Newton acknowledged as having influenced his ideas. This thorough and accessible biography is the first book-length treatment of this remarkable character. More's important contributions to science are illuminated, particularly his work on space and time which influenced Newton, and the book gives fascinating insights into his spiritual philosophy and his preoccupation with witchcraft. The depth of Professor Hall's scholarship makes the book an exceptional account of the turbulent world of the Scientific Revolution.

In this elegant, absorbing biography of Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Rupert Hall surveys the vast field of modern scholarship in order to interpret Newton's mathematical and experimental approach to nature. Mathematics was always the deepest, most innovative and productive of Newton's interests. However, he was also a historian, theologian, chemist, civil servant, and natural philosopher. These diverse studies were unified in his single design as a Christian to explore every facet of God's creation. The story of Newton's life and discoveries has been greatly altered by exploration of his huge manuscript legacy during the last forty years, throwing new light upon his personality and intellect. Hall's discussion of this research shows that Newton cannot simply be explained as a Platonist, mystic, or magus. He remains a complex and enigmatic genius with an immensely imaginative and commonsensical mind.

Henry More (1614-87) was the greatest English metaphysical theologian and the most perplexing; he was also perhaps the most distinguished member of the group of divines known as the Cambridge Platonists. An admirer of Galileo, Descartes, and Boyle, he rejected their detailed applications of mechanical philosophy to the explanation of natural phenomena. He was an experimenter, yet also a cabbalist and one of the few writers whom Newton acknowledged as having influenced his ideas. This thorough and accessible biography is the first book-length treatment of this remarkable character. More's important contributions to science are illuminated, particularly his work on space and time which influenced Newton, and the book gives fascinating insights into his spiritual philosophy and his preoccupation with witchcraft. The depth of Professor Hall's scholarship makes the book an exceptional account of the turbulent world of the Scientific Revolution.

Over the last forty years Professor Hall has been a major contributor to the ’new view’ of Newton now generally accepted. Essentially this has derived from the bringing to light and examination of Newton’s vast, but long neglected legacy of manuscripts, and the first studies in this volume illustrate the wealth of information these provide on the earliest phases of his great discoveries in mathematics and science. In particular, they confirm the intensity and originality of Newton’s investigations before and through the ’anni mirabiles’ of 1665-66. Further papers then deal with his relations with contemporaries such as Hooke, Leibniz and Huyghens, again making extensive use of unpublished manuscript material, and with the developing influence of his work. Durant les quarante dernières années, le professeur Hall a été l’un des plus importants contributeurs à la nouvelle appréciation de l’oeuvre de Newton, qui est de nos jours la plus généralement acceptée. Ceci provient essentiellement de l’examen du vaste héritage de manuscrits laissés par Newton et très longtemps négligé; les premières études de ce volume illustrent la richesse d’informations contenues dans ceux-ci quant aux toutes premières phases de ses grandes découvertes dans le domaine des mathématiques et de le science. Ils confirment en particulier l’intensité et l’originalité des recherches de Newton avant et pendant les anni mirabiles de 1665-66. S’ajoutent à ceci plusieurs études, où il est à nouveau fait grand usage de manuscrits inédits, traitant des rapports qu’il entretenait avec ses contemporains tels, Hooke, Leibniz et Huyghens, ainsi que de l’influence progressive de ses travaux.

This is the second selection of articles by Rupert Hall to be published by Variorum. Whereas the first volume focused on Newton and his work, the present one ranges more widely over the interactions between ’pure’ science, ’applied’ science, and craftsmanship, but with an emphasis on the period from the 17th century to the Industrial Revolution. The second and third sections look in particular at the relations between science and warfare, and science and medicine, and the position of the Royal Society forms the focus of several papers. Throughout Professor Hall argues for the need to keep in mind that the distinction between the practical or professional and the intellectual was not then valid in the same way as now; that the problems of the interaction and interdependence between ’knowing’ and ’doing’ are not invariant, but rather historically determined and with defined historical contexts.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.