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Renaissance Meteorology

Pomponazzi to Descartes

Craig Martin

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Craig Martin takes a careful look at how Renaissance scientists analyzed and interpreted rain, wind, and other natural phenomena like meteors and earthquakes and their impact on the great thinkers of the scientific revolution.

Martin argues that meteorology was crucial to the transformation that took place in science during the early modern period. By examining the conceptual foundations of the subject, Martin links Aristotelian meteorology with the new natural philosophies of the seventeenth century. He argues that because meteorology involved conjecture and observation and forced attention to...

Craig Martin takes a careful look at how Renaissance scientists analyzed and interpreted rain, wind, and other natural phenomena like meteors and earthquakes and their impact on the great thinkers of the scientific revolution.

Martin argues that meteorology was crucial to the transformation that took place in science during the early modern period. By examining the conceptual foundations of the subject, Martin links Aristotelian meteorology with the new natural philosophies of the seventeenth century. He argues that because meteorology involved conjecture and observation and forced attention to material and efficient causation, it paralleled developments in the natural philosophies of Descartes and other key figures of the scientific revolution.

Although an inherently uncertain endeavor, forecasting the weather was an extremely useful component not just of scientific study, but also of politics, courtly life, and religious doctrine. Martin explores how natural philosophers of the time participated in political and religious controversies by debating the meanings, causes, and purposes of natural disasters and other weather phenomena.

Through careful readings of an impressive range of texts, Martin situates the history of meteorology within the larger context of Renaissance and early modern science. The first study on Renaissance theories of weather in five decades, Renaissance Meteorology offers a novel understanding of traditional natural philosophy and its impact on the development of modern science.

Reviews

Reviews

A wonderful book on the thoughts and beliefs of Renaissance scientists regarding the weather and other issues of meteorology.

Well argued and well researched, this work is an essential view of Renaissance science and philosophy. Highly recommended.

For readers interested in the HOPOS as it relates to Aristotelianism and the novatores of the early modern period, we believe Renaissance Meteorology is nothing less than required reading.

This book enriches our understanding of early modern natural philosophy. It challenges us to re-evaluate the reception of Aristotle in an area of study that saw renewed emphasis on experience and denied a deep knowledge of the formal and final causes.

In this work, Martin writes in a cohesive and generally understandable manner... This work could be the starting point for further inquiries into early modern meteorological thought.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
224
ISBN
9781421401874
Illustration Description
3 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Epistemology of Meteorology
2. Teleology in Renaissance Meteorology
3. The Ferrarese Earthquakes and the Employment of Learned Meteorology
4. The Chymistry of Weather
5

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Epistemology of Meteorology
2. Teleology in Renaissance Meteorology
3. The Ferrarese Earthquakes and the Employment of Learned Meteorology
4. The Chymistry of Weather
5. Niccolò Cabeo's Meteorology as the Basis for a New Aristotelianism
6. Causation and Method in Cartesian Meteorology
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
Craig Martin
Featured Contributor

Craig Martin, Ph.D.

Craig Martin is an associate professor of history at Oakland University and author of Renaissance Meteorology: Pomponazzi to Descartes, also published by Johns Hopkins.
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