Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspective

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Illustrations......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 15
PART I SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUN......Page 17
1 Introduction......Page 19
Outline of a New Perspective......Page 23
Beyond Rhetoric......Page 24
The New Geography......Page 25
Prelude to the Industrial Revolution......Page 26
Max Weber’s Legacy......Page 27
The Telescope’s Significance......Page 33
2 Inventing the Discovery Machine......Page 38
From Silica to Transparent Glass......Page 39
Middelburg, Netherlands......Page 45
Padua and the University of the Late Renaissance......Page 48
News of the Spyglass in Padua......Page 51
Moon Watching in London: Thomas Harriot......Page 55
Galileo Begins His Moon Observations......Page 57
Jovian Moons......Page 60
Becoming Mathematician and Philosopher......Page 64
More Startling Discoveries in Padua......Page 68
smaimrmilmepoetaleumibunugttauiras.......Page 69
Back to Florence......Page 71
A Telescope Comes to Kepler......Page 73
The Phases of Venus......Page 75
Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum......Page 77
Celebrating Success: Rome......Page 80
The Malvasia Banquet and the Academy of Linceans......Page 81
Report of the Jesuit Mathematicians......Page 83
Induction into the Lincean Academy......Page 84
Feted at the Roman College......Page 85
New Recruits for China?......Page 86
The Jesuit Mission in China......Page 88
Send Me an “Astrologer”......Page 94
The Chinese Bureau of Mathematics and Astronomy......Page 96
Explaining the Telescope......Page 98
Launching the Reform......Page 106
Optics and Observation......Page 107
Platform for a Scientific Takeoff?......Page 113
Schall at the Helm: The Rites Controversy......Page 114
Saved by an Earthquake......Page 117
Verbiest’s Rise and His Daring Tests......Page 119
Aftermath......Page 122
Taking Stock......Page 125
Mughal India......Page 131
Spectacles and Telescopes among the Mughals......Page 135
The Ottoman Middle East......Page 142
Telescopes and the Ottomans......Page 145
Toward a Preliminary Assessment: The Muslim Context......Page 149
Samarqand: The Last Outpost......Page 154
PART II PATTERNS OF EDUCATION......Page 159
6 Three Ideals of Higher Education: Islamic, Chinese, and Western......Page 161
Europe and Its Reconstruction......Page 163
Universities and the Scientific Agenda......Page 166
The Madrasas and the Transmitted Science......Page 169
China and the Examinations......Page 175
Entrenched Worldviews......Page 180
PART III SCIENCE UNBOUND......Page 185
The Royal Society and Scientific Academies......Page 187
Medicine and the Study of Anatomy......Page 192
Microscopy......Page 202
Marcello Malpighi......Page 206
The Dutch, Leiden, and Microscopy......Page 207
Pioneering Advances and Conflicts of Priority......Page 208
Leeuwenhoek’s Little Animals......Page 214
Conclusion......Page 221
8 Infectious Curiosity II: Weighing the Air and Atmospheric Pressure......Page 225
Is a Vacuum Possible?......Page 226
Weighing the Air......Page 228
New Experiments in France......Page 236
Puy de Dome: The Mountain Test......Page 239
Stronger Than Horses......Page 241
Power from Steam and the Atmosphere......Page 245
Holding the World Together......Page 250
Magnetism and Electricity......Page 251
Peter Peregrinus......Page 253
De Magnete and Demonstration......Page 255
Gilbert’s “Electrics”......Page 256
The Magnetic Philosophy and Kepler......Page 258
Phosphorus and Electrostatic Machines......Page 260
Hauksbee Sheds New Light......Page 264
10 Prelude to the Grand Synthesis......Page 269
Breaking with the Islamic Past......Page 270
Mathematics from the Middle East......Page 275
Astronomy and the Science of Motion......Page 280
China’s Deficits......Page 281
Philosophers of the Universe......Page 283
Kepler’s Platform......Page 286
The Hooke–Newton Correspondence......Page 288
Beware of Comets......Page 291
Halley’s Visit......Page 296
From Revolutionary Treatise to Magnum Opus......Page 299
Terrestrial Applications......Page 303
Roots of a Final Theory......Page 305
The Revolutionary Grand Synthesis......Page 308
Roots of Experimental Science......Page 310
Astronomy......Page 311
Optics......Page 312
Pneumatics......Page 313
Anatomy and Medicine......Page 315
Divergent Ways......Page 316
Epilogue: Science, Literacy, and Economic Development......Page 317
Rising Rates of European Literacy......Page 318
The Public Sphere: Petitions and Newspapers......Page 321
Literacy and the Reformation......Page 323
Literacy and Book Production......Page 327
The Scientific Legacy and the Industrial Revolution......Page 330
Comparative Literacy in the Twentieth Century......Page 333
The Legacy of the Past and Societal Development......Page 334
Selected References......Page 337
Index......Page 357