In this fascinating look at the European scientific advances of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, historian Lisa Jardine demonstrates...
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Jul 28, 2011
Dale
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I read this some years ago now and enjoyed it as a good wide ranging discussion of the scientific revolution - with an emphasis on the mainstream big names - Wren, the Royal Society etc etc. This mainstream historical view of the scientific revolution, particularly the emphasis on the aristocratic men's leadership of the process has been challenged and broadened by reading "The Jewel House" by Deborah Harkness, where she applied a sociological framework to examining the scientific rev
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Mar 31, 2009
Stephen
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This interesting book examines the interconnection between the various scientific advances of the 17th century and manages to make such luminaries as Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, and Gian Domenico Cassini into real men rather than the passionless scientific demigods they are sometimes portrayed as having been. For the most part I found this book to be quite engaging though my interest waned a little while reading the book’s last few chapters. Overall, however, Ingenious Pursuits was a worth
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Jan 01, 2012
Frederick
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I read this book for a colleague's history class. It discusses the scientific revolution in 17th century England. The book is a series of anecdotes strung together of people like Hooke, Wren, Newton, Leibnitz, Huygens, Sloane, etc These are all early participants in the scientific revolution.l Many of the anecdotes are amusing but show that science is a messy and complicated human activity and that scientific discovery comes out of the times that people live in and their social structure.
May 30, 2009
Cheryl
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Jardine's book is incredibly informative and, generally, very interesting. There are some sections that I found to be particularly dry and boring (mostly the chapter(s) on collecting and classifying plants and animals) but, for the most part, Ingenious Pursuits is an enjoyable, comprehensive guide to the Scientific Revolution.
Dec 27, 2008
Jrobertus
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This is a fascinating look at the cluster of genius that gave rise to modern science. It focuses on English, with a few Dutch and other European scientists of the 17th century. In addition to stars like Newton, Boyle, and Kepler there are others like Hooke, Wren,Harvey etc etc. The period was alive with mapping the world, building clocks, collecting species, and investigating all manner of natural law. Although the writing is a bit ponderous, this astonishing story tells itself.
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Aug 10, 2011
K
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A mixed bag. If it were a biography of Hooke, and only that, I would rate it higher. The rest o the book is a hodgepodge of loosely related topics.
Mar 29, 2011
Steve
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The age of invention and expansion fo the 17th and 18th centuries, Newton, Halley and Soames. Truly fascinating stories of exploration, invention and growth.
Oct 09, 2007
Malini
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This book was as much about the interactions between scientists as the actual scientific breakthroughs of the 17th century. I gained a lot of insight into some of the scientists most of us know only through one "discovery," like Hooke or Boyle. The text did not get as much into the nitty gritty of scientific disputes, alchemy, and exploitative tactics as I would have liked. It definitely would have been enlivened by a little more gossip.
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Jan 01, 2008
Beth
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I read this book in 2004 and have found myself picking it up recently. In simplest terms, it explores how inventions (such as the microscope) impacted the culture, individuals and the larger society. Seeing is believing, after all.
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