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Printed in the United Kingdom and United States by Lightning Source for Open Book Publishers To the memory of Alistair Crombie (1915-1996) Rupert Hall (1920-2009) Joseph Needham (1900-1995) Roy Porter (1946-2002) scholars most learned and friends most loyal Contents List of Illustrations ix Note on Terminology and Acknowledgements 1 Preface 3 Introduction 5 1 From Pre-classical to Classical Pursuits 11 2 Experimentation and Quantification 29 3 Institutionalisation of Science 55 4 Truth(s) 75 5 The Scientific Revolution: The Big Picture 83 6 West and East European Contexts 101 Epilogue 119 References 125 Index 139 List of Illustrations 1 Image of heliocentric model from Nicolaus Copernicus’ 13 De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (c. 1543). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Copernican_heliocentrism.jpg 2 Palaeolithic painting, Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave (southern 17 France), c. 32,000-30,000 BP. Wikimedia Commons, http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etologic_horse_study,_ Chauvet_cave.jpg 3 The Prague Astronomical Clock (Prague Orloj) in Old Town 34 Square, Prague, Czech Republic. © BrokenSphere/Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prague_ Orloj_1.JPG 4 Portrait of Nicolaus of Cusa wearing a cardinal’s hat, in 39 Hartmann Schedel, Nuremberg Chronicle (1493). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: Cusanus_schedel_chronicle.jpg 5 Georg Ernst Stahl. Line engraving (1715). Wellcome Trust, 40 http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0008079.html 6 Portrait of Robert Boyle by Johann Kerseboom (c. 1689). 49 Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Robert_Boyle_0001.jpg 7 View from above of Gresham College, London, as it was in the 56 eighteenth century. By unknown artist, after an illustration in John Ward, Lives of the Professors of Gresham College (1740). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:PSM_V81_D316_Old_gresham_college.png x The Scientific Revolution Revisited 8 Portrait of an old man thought to be Comenius (c. 1661) by 59 Rembrandt. Florence, Uffizi Gallery. Wikimedia Commons, http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_an_Old_Man,_ Rembrandt.jpg 9 Spherical burning mirror by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus 65 (1786). Collection of Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Zwinger), Dresden, Germany. Wikimedia Commons, http://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spherical_burning_mirror,_Ehrenfried_ Walther_von_Tschirnhaus,_Kieslingswalde_(today_Slawonice,_ Poland),_1786,_copper_-_Mathematisch-Physikalischer_Salon,_ Dresden_-_DSC08142.JPG 10 Title page of New Atlantis in the second edition of Francis 75 Bacon’s Sylva sylvarum: or A naturall historie. In ten centuries (London: William Lee at the Turks, 1628). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacon_1628_New_ Atlantis_title_page.png 11 A diagrammatic section of the human brain by René Descartes, 80 in his Treatise of Man (1664). Wikimedia Commons, http:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Descartes_brain_section.png 12 A page from Song Dynasty (960-1279), printed book of the 89 I Ching (Yi Jing), Classic of Changes or Book of Changes. National Central Library, Taipei City, Taiwan. Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:I_Ching_Song_ Dynasty_print.jpg 13 Zheng He’s Treasure Ship. Model at the Hong Kong Science 94 Museum. Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Zheng_He%27s_Treasure_Ship_1.jpg 14 David Gans, Ptolemaic cosmological diagram (planetary 106 circles surrounded by Zodiac constellations) in Hebrew, from his Nechmad V’Naim (1743). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galgalim_gans.JPG 15 Emperor Franz Stephan (sitting) together with his natural science 112 advisors. From left to right: Gerard van Swieten, Johann Ritter von Baillou (naturalist), Valentin Jamerai Duval (numismatist) and Abbé Johann Marcy (Director of the Physical Mathematical Cabinet). Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Kaiserbild_Naturhistorisches_Museum_cropped.jpg Note on Terminology and Acknowledgements In a book about the much debated Scientific Revolution, problems unavoidably arise with terminology. They pertain to terms such as science/normal science/ modern science, and social/societal, among others. I regret possible ambiguities in their employment despite efforts to be consistent. There is also the question of references. They are given in full but I apologise for inadvertent omissions. This also applies to the bibliography relevant to the debate. I am indebted to Dr Albert Müller, who read a large part of the early version of the book, and Professor Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, who commented on chapters 1 and 2 in draft. It is a pleasure to pay tribute to discussions with Professors Kurt Bayertz, Herbert Matis, Michael Mitterauer, Dr Deborah Thom and Professor Joachim Whaley. Deep thanks for support are due to Dr Ian Benson, Alison Hennegan, Professor Hans-Jörg Rheinberger and the late Professor William N. Parker. Dr Alessandra Tosi provided invaluable editorial guidance. Ben Fried proofread the manuscript and commented on it most helpfully. Lastly and firstly, my warmest words of gratitude go to my family, above all to Professor Alice Teichova and our daughter Dr Eva Kandler – without their assistance the book would quite literally not have seen the light of day. The responsibility for the published text is mine. Preface In 1969, after taking up a Visiting Scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge, I was approached by the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University, to give a public lecture. The subject-matter I chose was ‘Three Revolutions: The Scientific, Industrial and Scientific-Technical’. When it was announced in the University Reporter (100 (1969-1970), p. 1577), for some reason the Scientific-Technical Revolution metamorphosed into the Scientific-Industrial. I gave the lecture on 4 May 1970, and in it I attempted to convey that the Three Revolutions were products of, and factors in, historically far-reaching societal transformations, and that the place of science and technology cannot be left out of the societal picture. It was this perspective that led me to return to the subject-matter and address it now in book form. Apart from underestimating the difficulties of presenting a short account of the issue, other commitments prevented me from focusing solely on the project. When I reached my 90th birthday, it occurred to me that if I was to contribute to the debates regarding these three great movements of thought and action, a viable course would be to produce the work in three separate parts, of which The Scientific Revolution Revisited is the first. It turned out to be a thorny journey; the other two parts are in preparation. Autumn 2014 Introduction I This book is about interpreting the Scientific Revolution as a distinctive movement directed towards the exploration of the world of nature and coming into its own in Europe by the end of the seventeenth century. The famed English historian Lord Acton (1834-1902) is said to have advised that problems were more important than periods. If he held this opinion, he ignored that problems are embedded in time and place and do not arise autonomously.