This introduction to the history of science in the seventeenth century
examines the so-called 'scientific revolution' in terms of the interplay
between two major themes. The Platonic-Pythagorean tradition looked on
nature in geometric terms with the conviction that the cosmos was
constructed according to the principles of mathematical order, while the
mechanical philosophy conceived of nature as a huge machine and sought
to explain the hidden mechanisms behind phenomena. Pursuing different
goals, these two movements of thought tended to conflict with each
other, and more than the obviously mathematical sciences were affected -
the influence spread as far as chemistry and the life sciences. As this
book demonstrates, the full fruition of the scientific revolution
required a resolution of the tension between the two dominant trends.