The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed such fervent investigations of the natural world that the period has been called the 'Scientific Revolution.' New ideas and discoveries not only redefined what human beings believed, knew, and could do, but also forced them to redefine themselves with respect to the strange new worlds revealed by ships and scalpels, telescopes and microscopes, experimentation and contemplation. Driven by religious devotion, by practical need, by the promise of fame and profit, or by the simple desire to know, a broad range of thinkers and workers explored and reconceptualized the world around them. Explanatory systems were made, discarded, and remade by some of the best-known names in the entire history of science - Copernicus, Galileo, Newton - and by many others less recognized but no less important. In this Very Short Introduction Lawrence M. Principe explores the exciting developments in the sciences of the stars (astronomy, astrology, and cosmology), the sciences of earth (geography, geology, hydraulics, pneumatics), the sciences of matter and motion (alchemy, chemistry, kinematics, physics), the sciences of life (medicine, anatomy, biology, zoology), and much more. The story is told from the perspective of the historical characters themselves, emphasizing their background, context, reasoning, and motivations, and dispelling well-worn myths about the history of science.

作者

勞倫斯•普林西比　美國約翰斯•霍普金斯大學科學技術史係和化學係教授。主要研究早期化學史、煉金術史。由於對科學史研究的卓越貢獻，被授予培根奬章。另著有《火中試驗煉金術：斯塔基、玻意耳以及海爾濛特派化學傢的命運》（2002，與W.R.紐曼閤著）、《雄心勃勃的煉金術士： 羅伯特•玻意耳和他的煉金術探索》（1998）。

序言作者

吳國盛 生於1964年。北京大學理學學士（1983）、哲學碩士（1986），中國社會科學院哲學博士（1998）。1997年獲破格晉升，成為中國社會科學院最年輕的研究員，1999年迴到北京大學哲學係任教。現任北京大學科學史與科學哲學研究中心主任。著有《科學的曆程》《時間的觀念》《希臘空間概念》《現代化之憂思》《反思科學》等。