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Newton for Ladies (1737) – Newtonianism vs. Cartesianism

20 points| bgilroy26 | 5 months ago |whipplelib.hps.cam.ac.uk

13 comments

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srean|5 months ago

Cartesianism may be highly injurious to the ladies' dog.

Quip aside, the history of science of that period just overwhelms me. What a time ! Galileo, DesCartes, Barrow, Leibnitz, Huygens, Newton, Halley, Hooke.

geye1234|5 months ago

I recommend "The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science" by E.A. Burtt if you're interested in that period. It discusses both the science, and the different philosophies of physics that were informing and perhaps influencing them. The book is a hundred years old but very readable.

OJFord|5 months ago

Progress today seems typically more industrial, but I'm sure you could likewise look back in the future and say Good heavens! Musk, Bezos, Altman, Jobs, Ive, Knuth (or extend the period for Turing, von Neumann, Brooks bros.)!

The 'Great Man' fallacy no doubt applies as well to Galileo et al. as it would more obviously be someone's objection to my contemporary list.