07-25-2023, 10:35 PM
"This thesis... looks in detail at the development of similar “occult” and non-mechanical ways of thinking by earlier English thinkers; from the earliest English “scientists”: John Dee (1527–1608), William Gilbert (1544–1603), and Francis Bacon (1561–1626), to members of the Royal Society of London, the first scientific society (founded in 1660), including Robert Boyle (1627–1691), Robert Hooke (1635–1703), and others. This thesis shows, therefore, that the occult ways of thinking that can be seen to have shaped Newton’s new
physics were already current in English thought (and were by no means confined to alchemy), and already provided a powerful and fruitful alternative to the mechanical
philosophy which was dominant in Continental Europe. The power and fruitfulness of these English ideas is shown by the very fact that these ideas can all be seen, as
this thesis shows, to have culminated in the highly successful work of Sir Isaac Newton."
Thesis by Xiaona Wang.
https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/18...sAllowed=y
(No landing-page - immediate download)
physics were already current in English thought (and were by no means confined to alchemy), and already provided a powerful and fruitful alternative to the mechanical
philosophy which was dominant in Continental Europe. The power and fruitfulness of these English ideas is shown by the very fact that these ideas can all be seen, as
this thesis shows, to have culminated in the highly successful work of Sir Isaac Newton."
Thesis by Xiaona Wang.
https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/18...sAllowed=y
(No landing-page - immediate download)