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The Invention of Science

A New History of the Scientific Revolution

David Wootton

$45

Paperback

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English
Penguin
14 November 2016
We live in a world made by science. How and when did this happen? This book tells the story of the extraordinary intellectual and cultural revolution that gave birth to modern science, and mounts a major challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of its history. Before 1492 it was assumed that all significant knowledge was already available; there was no concept of progress; people looked for understanding to the past not the future. This book argues that the discovery of America demonstrated that new knowledge was possible: indeed it introduced the very concept of 'discovery', and opened the way to the invention of science. David Wootton's landmark book changes our understanding of how this great transformation came about, and of what science is.
By:  
Imprint:   Penguin
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 34mm
Weight:   556g
ISBN:   9780141040837
ISBN 10:   0141040831
Pages:   784
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Primary ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York. His previous books include Paolo Sarpi (1983), Bad Medicine (2006) and Galileo (2010). He has given the Raleigh Lecture at the British Academy (2008), the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford (2014) and the Benedict Lectures at Boston (2014).

Reviews for The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution

The seventeenth century saw the emergence of the mindset that characterizes modern science. David Wootton lucidly describes the individuals, the experiments and the controversies that marked this intellectually turbulent and transformative era. ... This fascinating and scholarly book should receive a wide readership. -- Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, President of the Royal Society 2005-10 This is a superb book, at once cogent, revisionist and profound. It offers the most novel and significant account of the Scientific Revolution to appear for many years ... it is simply rather brilliant. -- Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London A truly remarkable piece of scholarship. His work has an ingenious and innovative linguistic foundation, examining the invention and redefinition of words as tracers of a new understanding of nature and how to approach it. His erudition is awesome, and his argument is convincing. -- Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University A grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science. -- Andrea Wulf Financial Times


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