A History of Science — Volume 2
- Pages
- about 292
- Category
- History
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5.4 h at 250 wpm
From the opening
The studies of the present book cover the progress of science from the
close of the Roman period in the fifth century A.D. to about the middle
of the eighteenth century. In tracing the course of events through so
long a period, a difficulty becomes prominent which everywhere besets
the historian in less degree--a difficulty due to the conflict between
the strictly chronological and the topical method of treatment. We must
hold as closely as possible to the actual sequence of events, since,
as already pointed out, one discovery leads on to another. But, on the
other hand, progressive steps are taken contemporaneously in the various
fields of science, and if we were to attempt to introduce these
in strict chronological order we should lose all sense of topical
continuity.
Our method has been to adopt a compromise, following the course of a
single science in each great epoch to a convenient stopping-point, and
then turning back to bring forward the story of another science. Thus,
for example, we tell the story of Copernicus and Galileo, bringing the
record of cosmical and mechanical progress down to about the middle
of the seventeenth century, before turning back to take up the
physiological progress of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Once
the latter stream is entered, however, we follow it without interruption
to the time of Harvey and his contemporaries in the middle of the
seventeenth century, where we leave it to return to the field of
mechanics as exploited by the successors of Galileo, who were also the
predecessors and contemporaries of Newton.
In general, it will aid the reader to recall that, so far as
possible, we hold always to the same sequences of topical treatment of
contemporary events; as a rule we treat first the cosmical, then the
physical, then the biological sciences. The same order of treatment will
be held to in succeeding volumes.
A short sample. Read the whole book
More to read
- A Belated Guest (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)William Dean HowellsHistory19 pages
- A Bit of Old ChinaCharles Warren StoddardHistory17 pages
- A Book of Remarkable CriminalsH. B. IrvingHistory341 pages
- A Book of ScoundrelsCharles WhibleyHistory202 pages
- A Brief History of the Internet The Bright Side: The Dark SideMichael HartHistory59 pages
Public-domain text from Project Gutenberg, Standard Ebooks or a similar open source. Copyright differs between countries. Rights holder? See our takedown process.