Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution From Copernicus to New

1298 PAGES--As the history of science has developed as an area of study, its course has exhibited

patterns similar to those seen in the natural sciences. Both have undergone processes of

fission and fusion, with research areas branching out into subfields, and two or more

uniting to create new fields of research. The history of science, initially practiced by

historians, philosophers, and retired scientists, now attracts social historians, sociologists,

anthropologists, historians of religion and of technology, and literary historians. It has

come to embrace biographies of scientists; the histories of scientific disciplines and their

branches; scientific institutions; the analysis and development of broad concepts such as

matter, motion, and life; the support of scientific activities; the philosophical foundations

and implications of science; the relation of science to fields such as medicine and

technology; and the social contexts within which scientific ideas and practices emerged.

The expertise required for the creation of an encyclopedia as complex as one on the

Scientific Revolution led to the recruitment of more than 160 contributors from fourteen

countries. The 441 articles, however, were designed to appeal to a wide readership. A

user????????s guide has been provided as an aid for the reader in finding his or her way in the

subject matter of the encyclopedia as a whole, and a number of entries on various

historiographical approaches to the history of science are included.