Beeckman’s engagement of mechanics and philosophy

Abstract

Isaac Beeckman (1588–1637) was a master craftsman from the Zeeland town Middelburg who studied to become schoolmaster in the Holland towns of Rotterdam and Dordrecht. He was a strict Calvinist and a tireless observer and contemplator of natural phenomena. Foremost, he was the first mechanical philosopher in Europe who played a key role in the intellectual development of Rene Descartes (1596–1650) and inspired pioneers of mechanistic thinking Marin Mersenne (1588–1648) and Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655). We know this because Beeckman kept a journal throughout his life in which he recorded his observations and ideas. The journal is a treasure trove of early modern knowing. Beeckman had a keen eye for the world around him and responded to what he saw, as well as the reflections of others, with a highly original mind. The journal was discovered in 1905 by Cornelis de Waard (1879–1963), who subsequently edited and published it between 1939 and 1953 (Beeckman 1939–1953). Although some acquaintances and visitors saw the journal and a selection of his notes was published by his brother in 1644, the significance of Beeckman’s ideas and his decisive role in the development of early modern philosophy have largely remained unknown. De Waard’s edition did not truly change this: only with the new Descartes studies of the 1980s did the significance of Beeckman for the new philosophy become wider known (Gaukroger 1995). At that moment also the first monograph on Beeckman finally appeared: a study of his life and work in the form of the 1983 Utrecht dissertation of Klaas van Berkel (van Berkel 1983). It suffered, however, a similar fate as John Schuster’s 1977 meticulous study of Descartes’s intellectual development (Schuster 1977): both remained largely inaccessible for an international audience. Few could read the Dutch of van Berkel’s dissertation, whereas Schuster’s was only available via microfilm.