Early Physics and Astronomy

• Preface; 1. Science before the Greeks; 2. The new concept of nature; 3. Plato and Greek mathematics; 4. Aristotle and the knowledge of Nature; 5. Practical astronomy; 6. Early Greek cosmology; 7. Mathematical astronomy; 8. The foundation of statics; 9. Dynamics in antiquity; 10. The conception of light and sound; 11. The structure of material substances; 12. Properties of matter and chemical change; 13. The transmission of Greek science; 14. Experimental physics in the Middle Ages; 15. The development of statics; 16. The establishment of kinematics; 17. Force and motion in the Middle Ages; 18. Mediaeval astronomy; 19. The change called Renaissance; 20. The reform of astronomy; Bibliography; Index.

'This is an exceptional book, written with a clarity of style which not only reveals the broad ebb and flow of scientific ideas throughout the ages, but also illuminates them by closely focussed images of specific individuals and the inspired ideas which brought about the emerging understanding of the physical world. Olaf Pedersen has presented us with an epitome of classical and scientific scholarship, and for that we should be grateful indeed.' Webb Society Quarterly Journal