Ingenious Pursuits - by Lisa Jardine (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this fascinating look at the European scientific advances of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, historian Lisa Jardine demonstrates that the pursuit of knowledge occurs not in isolation, but rather in the lively interplay and frequently cutthroat competition between creative minds.

The great thinkers of that extraordinary age, including Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, and Christopher Wren, are shown in the context in which they lived and worked. We learn of the correspondences they kept with their equally passionate colleagues and come to understand the unique collaborative climate that fostered virtuoso discoveries in the areas of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, biology, chemistry, botany, geography, and engineering. Ingenious Pursuits brilliantly chronicles the true intellectual revolution that continues to shape our very understanding of ourselves, and of the world around us.

Review Quotes

"Robustly written, engagingly illustrated, briskly paced, quirkily detailed, Ingenious Pursuits may seduce readers not otherwise inclined to ponder the genealogy of the scientific enterprise." --The New York Times Book Review

"Jardine's enthusiasm for her subject enlivens the portraits of a diverse assembly of thinkers and their remarkable contributions to modern science." --Science News

"Fascinating. . . . Jardine never loses sight of the immediacy and excitement of scientific discovery." --The New Statesman

About the Author

Lisa Jardine is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, and Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.