"Edwards' writing is fresh, witty, clean, neat, unencumbered by jargon....Her interpretations are rarely arguable, they are so well-built. Her book will certainly change the mind and the attitude of any intelligent reader. It is one of those quiet books that change the way we think forever after." Milton Quarterly

"[Edwards's] lucid, accessible summary of 17th-century scientific literature is exhaustive....[Edwards] demonstrates in this volume a clear grasp of 17th-century science and culture and effectively integrates Milton's work into that milieu. This title complements other studies that integrate societal and cultural influences with literature..." Choice

"Milton and the Natural World is a "must" for all Miltonists. It sends us back to Paradise Lost with renewed interest and greater knowledge, ready for deeper appreciationand debate. Karen Edwards is to be congratulated, as is Cambridge University Press, for publishing such a handsome volume, with delightful contemporary illustrations..." Sixteenth Century Journal

"Karen L. Edwards's revisionist account of John Milton's relation to seventeenth-century science retells an old story in an important new way that has significant implications for seventeenth-century scholars, historians of science, and students of Paradise Lost alike...Edwards's work is as refreshing as it is important." Modern Philology

"With her well-informed and sensitive understanding of the way Milton and his scientific contemporaries read the book of nature, Edwards could refute the most outrageous charges against early scientists at the level those arguments operate." Review