Description
Book SynopsisWilliam Petty (1623-1687) was a key figure in the English colonization of Ireland, the institutionalization of experimental natural philosophy, and the creation of social science. Examining Petty''s intellectual development and his invention of ''political arithmetic'' against the backdrop of the European scientific revolution and the political upheavals of Interregnum and Restoration England and Ireland, this book provides the first comprehensive intellectual biography of Petty based on a thorough examination not only of printed sources but also of Petty''s extensive archive and pattern of manuscript circulation. It is also the first fully contextualized study of what political arithmetic - widely seen as an ancestor of modern social and economic analysis - was originally intended to do.Ted McCormick traces Petty''s education among French Jesuits and Dutch Cartesians, his early work with the ''Hartlib Circle'' of Baconian natural philosophers, inventors, and reformers in England, his
Trade ReviewWell written, often displaying an enviable turn of phrase and an eye for telling quotations from original sources...gives us a new way of looking at Petty and is likely to stimulate fresh thought about the ideas of his period more generally. * Michael Hunter, American Historical Review *
[An] excellent biography of William Petty * Edward Higgs, Economic History Review *
[A] fine book...one of the most original and illuminating publications on the histories of both thought and Ireland in many years. * Toby Barnard, Irish Studies Review *
[a] fine intellectual biography * Steven Shapin, London Review of Books *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: William Petty and Political Arithmetic ; 1. From Romsey to Paris ; 2. The Making of a Virtuoso ; 3. Surveying Ireland ; 4. Science and Policy in the Restoration ; 5. The Transmutation of the Irish ; 6. Corpuscles, Colonies, and Kingdoms ; 7. Political Arithmetic in Circulation ; 8. Death and Afterlife ; Conclusion: From Political Arithmetic to Political Economy ; Bibliography ; Index
