History of Science: The Beginnings of Modern Science from 1450 to 1800

Abstract

When the first volume of this series appeared, it aroused general critical enthusiasm in which the present reviewer was not able to share (<i>JAMA</i><b>188:</b>191 [April 13] 1964). Essentially the same reaction will greet this second volume, which discusses the beginnings of modern science, from 1450 to 1800. This era covers such vast changes that only a great master of exposition can make them meaningful and interesting within the compass of a single volume. In the present work, with its multiple authorship, the contributors are all thorough scholars, many of them of great renown. But there simply are too many authors, with too many points of view, too many modes of exposition, too great variation in writing skill, to make a truly helpful volume. The disciplines discussed, including mathematics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, and medicine, with their ramifications, are too vast. Many of the chapters, particularly those dealing with