"It is a pleasure to have someone with Peter Dear's knowledge and ability take on the problem of the textbook. Dear includes both the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in his survey and gives the reader a clear and informative account of some of the basic philosophical issues in natural philosophy. His chapters are economically written and well designed to cover broad and important issues. Dear's work addresses a lacuna by providing a chronologically organized introduction to the context and events of the scientific revolution."--Paula Findlen, Stanford University
"This is an entirely excellent work and it will make an important contribution to our understanding of the development of early modern science."--John Henry, University of Edinburgh
"It is lucid, well written and shows a thorough command of the subject matter. The author succeeds admirably in making complex ideas intelligible and interesting for readers and employs effective examples to illustrate the changing nature of scientific thought."--Marisa Linton, Kingston University
