Before Newton
The Life and Times of Isaac Barrow

A comprehensive re-evaluation of Isaac Barrow (1630–1677), one of the more prominent and intriguing of all seventeenth-century men of science. Barrow is remembered today - if at all - only as Sir Isaac Newton's mentor and patron, but he in fact made important contributions to the disciplines of optics and geometry. Moreover, he was a prolific and influential preacher as well as a renowned classical scholar. By seeking to understand Barrow's mathematical work, primarily within the confines of the pre-Newtonian scientific framework, the book offers a substantial rethinking of his scientific acumen. In addition to providing a biographical study of Barrow, it explores the intimate connections among his scientific, philological and religious worldviews in an attempt to convey the complexity of the seventeenth-century culture that gave rise to Isaac Barrow, a breed of polymath that would become increasingly rare with the advent of modern science.

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Product details

• Date Published: June 2008
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521063852
• length: 396 pages

• dimensions: 234 x 156 x 20 mm
• weight: 0.554kg
• availability: Available