Nothing is considered more natural than the connection between Isaac Newton's science and the modernity that came into being during the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Terms like "Newtonianism" are routinely taken as synonyms for "Enlightenment" and "modern" thought, yet the particular conjunction of these terms has a history full of accidents and contingencies. Modern physics, for example, was not the determined result of the rational unfolding of Newton's scientific work in the eighteenth century, nor was the Enlightenment the natural and inevitable consequence of Newton's eighteenth-century reception. Each of these outcomes, in fact, was a contingent event produced by the particular historical developments of the early eighteenth century.A comprehensive study of public culture, "The Newton Wars and the Beginning of the French Enlightenment" digs below the surface of the commonplace narratives that link Newton with Enlightenment thought to examine the actual historical changes that brought them together in eighteenth-century time and space. Drawing on the full range of early modern scientific sources, from studied scientific treatises and academic papers to book reviews, commentaries, and private correspondence, J. B. Shank challenges the widely accepted claim that Isaac Newton's solitary genius is the reason for his iconic status as the father of modern physics and the philosophe movement.

About the Author
J. B. Shank is associate professor of history at the University of Minnesota.

Reviews
"Shank offers a fresh and genuinely innovative account of a key period and takes the reader into the scientific and philosophical worlds that grappled with the legacy of Newton, one of the master scientists of the early modern world." - Colin Jones, Queen Mary, University of London"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226749457
Author J.B. Shank
Format Hardback
Page Count 464
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 936g
Dimensions(mm) 24mm * 16mm * 4mm