"A ambitious work that deserves to become a classic in this subject."--Nature "A superb contribution to the history of science."--American Scientist "A work of great, indeed of delightful, learning. It results from years spent combing the archives, from wide and imaginative reading in the printed sources, and from a remarkable effort to categorize and organize a widely scattered literature of interpretation. . . . Heilbron displays a superb sensitivity to historical context in the first and most original section of the book. Here he focuses on 'Early Modern Physics and Its Cultivators.'. . . Heilbron succeeds in the most difficult and urgent task--bringing the history of science to life as a part of history."--American Historical Review "Heilbron . . . writes with lucidity and more wit than one might expect under such a title. . . . This study is careful, and it overthrows many existing generalizations about early modern physics."--Choice "Unquestionably a major contribution to scholarship, a landmark in the historiography of early modern science. . . . Heilbron's penetrating study provides a new perspective on early modern physics."--History of Science