Newton Wars and the Beginning of the French Enlightenment
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18th century
A01=J.B. Shank
academic
Author_J.B. Shank
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contemporary
cultural
culture
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era
europe
france
gravity
historical
history
intellectual
isaac newton
modern
narrative
newtonian
newtonianism
philosophical
philosophy
physicist
physics
public
research
scholarly
science
scientific
scientist
story
theoretical
theory
thinker
thought
time period
western world
Product details
- ISBN 9780226749457
- Weight: 936g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 15 Sep 2008
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Nothing is considered more natural than the connection between Isaac Newton's science and the modernity that came into being during the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Terms like "Newtonianism" are routinely taken as synonyms for "Enlightenment" and "modern" thought, yet the particular conjunction of these terms has a history full of accidents and contingencies. Modern physics, for example, was not the determined result of the rational unfolding of Newton's scientific work in the eighteenth century, nor was the Enlightenment the natural and inevitable consequence of Newton's eighteenth-century reception. Each of these outcomes, in fact, was a contingent event produced by the particular historical developments of the early eighteenth century.A comprehensive study of public culture, "The Newton Wars and the Beginning of the French Enlightenment" digs below the surface of the commonplace narratives that link Newton with Enlightenment thought to examine the actual historical changes that brought them together in eighteenth-century time and space.
Drawing on the full range of early modern scientific sources, from studied scientific treatises and academic papers to book reviews, commentaries, and private correspondence, J. B. Shank challenges the widely accepted claim that Isaac Newton's solitary genius is the reason for his iconic status as the father of modern physics and the philosophe movement.
J. B. Shank is associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota.
