Recreating Newton
Newtonian Biography and the Making of Nineteenth-Century History of Science
Published on 12. September 2016
297 pages
978-0-8229-8179-4 (ISBN)
Description
Higgitt examines Isaac Newton's changing legacy during the nineteenth century. She focuses on 1820-1870, a period that saw the creation of the specialized and secularized role of the "scientist." At the same time, researchers gained better access to Newton's archives. These were used both by those who wished to undermine the traditional, idealised depiction of scientific genius and those who felt obliged to defend Newtonian hagiography. Higgitt shows how debates about Newton's character stimulated historical scholarship and led to the development of a new expertise in the history of science.
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Curtis Murphy
From Citizens to Subjects
City, State, and the Enlightenment in Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus
Book
07/2018
University of Pittsburgh Press
€58.00
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Rebekah Higgitt
Recreating Newton
Newtonian Biography and the Making of Nineteenth-Century History of Science
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Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Ltd
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Person
Rebekah Higgitt is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Kent.
Content
- Cover
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Dedication
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Introduction
- Background
- Science and Genius
- Sources for Newtonian Biography
- Outline of Contents
- Conclusion
- 1. Jean-Baptiste Biot's 'Newton' and its Translation (1822-1829)
- Biot's 'Newton' and the Laplacian Programme
- Biot's 'Newton': Light, Priority, Madness and Religion
- Newton for the Workers? The SDUK and Biography
- Translating Biot's 'Newton'
- Conclusion
- 2. David Brewster's Life of Sir Isaac Newton (1831): Defending the Hero
- Brewster's Life of Newton
- Contradictions: Brewster on Genius and Baconianism
- The Life of Newton and the Reform of Science
- Responses to Brewster's Life of Newton
- Conclusion
- 3. Francis Baily's Account of the Revd. John Flamsteed (1835)
- The Flamsteed/Newton Controversy Revisited
- A Select Audience
- Published Responses
- Baily's Reply
- Conclusion
- 4. Newtonian Studies and the History of Science 1835-1855
- Stephen Rigaud's Historical Writings
- Antiquarians, Archivists, Librarians and Historians of Science
- Joseph Edleston's Correspondence of Newton and Cotes (1850)
- Augustus De Morgan's Historical Writings
- Morality and 'Impartial' History
- Conclusion
- 5. David Brewster's Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton (1855): The 'regretful witness'
- The Gestation of Brewster's Memoirs
- The Memoirs and the History of Science
- Controversies: The Second Volume of the Memoirs
- Newton's Personality in the Memoirs and its Reviews
- Conclusion
- 6. The 'Mythical' and the 'Historical' Newton
- Placing Newton on his Pedestal: The Grantham Statue (1858)
- Newton: His Friend: And His Niece (1853-1870): Misreadings and Reassessment
- 'Newton dépossédé!': The Affair of the Pascal Forgeries (1867-1870)
- The British Response to the Pascal Forgeries
- Conclusion
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Appendix: Translations of Quotations from Biot's 'Newton' in Chapter 1
- Works Cited
- Index
