Reviews
An invaluable contribution to the literature of the history and philosophy of science, presented with clarity, intelligence, and economy... Highly recommended.
Osler's approach is steady and the language she uses plain and concise, making Reconfiguring the World a very enjoyable book to read, interesting and easily accessible for the reader who has yet to make acquaintance with these important topics.
Given Osler's status as an expert on both the scientific revolution and the relations between science and religion in the early modern world, it is no surprise that the book offers and authoritative overview of changing knowledge of the natural world during this period.
This book is an apt legacy for a scholar who, while lauded for her research and writing, was also well-loved in the classroom and who took great pains as a teacher and thesis supervisor. Aimed at undergraduates, it will have its place in both history of science courses and surveys of the early modern period. It will as well satisfy anyone in need of a primer on the nature of early modern science.
[This] book would be an excellent key text in courses on theology, philosophy, science or history, since it does not talk down to the reader well-versed in these areas while remaining accessible to the non-specialist. In this sense Osler follows in the footsteps of the people she so obviously admires, breaking down interdisciplinary boundaries and suggesting new ways of seeing the (historical) world.
Reconfiguring the World is a rich story that captures much of the best historiography of the past couple of decades—the exciting new work on alchemy, the religious roots of modern science, the contributions of Arabic thinkers (not just their 'transmitting' of Greek and Roman knowledge), and the integration of natural history and natural philosophy.
Book Details
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Western View of the World before 1500
2. Winds of Change: Searching for a New Philosophy of Nature
3. Observing the Heavens: From Aristotelian Cosmology to the
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Western View of the World before 1500
2. Winds of Change: Searching for a New Philosophy of Nature
3. Observing the Heavens: From Aristotelian Cosmology to the Uniformity of Nature
4. Creating a New Philosophy of Nature
5. Shifting Boundaries: From Mixed Mathematics to Mathematical Physics
6. Exploring the Properties of Matter: Alchemy and Chemistry
7. Studying Life: Plants, Animals, and Humans
8. Rethinking the Universe: Newton on Gravity and God
Epilogue
Suggested Further Reading
Index