Description
Book SynopsisThis new edition of The Cambridge Companion to Newton includes three updated chapters, as well as a revised bibliography, new introduction and three entirely new chapters on continuous and discontinuous force in Newton's laws of motion, Newton's religion and Newton's efforts in chronology of the ancient past.
Trade Review'Taken as a whole this companion contains high-quality and up-to-date scholarship which will give the reader access to the different disciplines in which Newton was active in a representative way. This companion contains Newton scholarship at its best. In comparison with the first edition, Newton's so-called extra-scientific work now receives more attention. Even those who already possess a copy of the first edition should seriously consider purchasing the second edition in view of the plethora of new material which the second edition contains.' Steffen Ducheyne, Metascience
'After an excellent introduction, chapters by 15 authors cover Newton's works on physics, mathematics, alchemy, religion, ancient chronology, and more. In each chapter, the authors write from a depth of expertise apparent in the detailed expositions and arguments'. M. Dickinson, Choice
'Libraries catering for academic work in the history and philosophy of science will most certainly want this book.' Martin Guha, Reference Reviews
Table of ContentsPreface to the new edition Rob Iliffe and George E. Smith; Introduction Rob Iliffe and George E. Smith; 1. Newton's philosophical analysis of space and time Robert DiSalle; 2. Newton's concepts of force and mass, with notes on the laws of motion Bernard Cohen; 3. Instantaneous impulse and continuous force: the foundations of Newton's Principia Bruce Pourciau; 4. The methodology of the Principia George E. Smith; 5. Newton's argument for universal gravitation William Harper; 6. Newton and celestial mechanics Curtis Wilson; 7. Newton's optics and atomism Alan E. Shapiro; 8. Newton's metaphysics Howard Stein; 9. A brief introduction to the mathematical work of Isaac Newton Niccolò Guicciardini; 10. Newton and the mechanical philosophy Alan Gabbey; 11. A preliminary reassessment of Newton's alchemy William R. Newman; 12. The religion of Isaac Newton Rob Iliffe; 13. Isaac Newton historian Mordechai Feingold; 14. Newton and eighteenth century Christianity Scott Mandelbrote; 15. Newton and the Leibniz–Clarke correspondence Domenico Bertoloni Meli.