English Science: Bacon to Newton

• List of plates; Acknowledgements; Preface; Introduction; Part I. Francis Bacon (1561–1626): 1. Preparative towards a Natural and Experimental History, 1620; 2. New Atlantis, c.1624; Part II. Robert Boyle (1627–1691): 3. Experiments with the air-pump, 1660; 4. The Sceptical Chymist, 1661; Part III. Henry Power (1623–1668): 5. Experimental Philosophy, 1664; Part IV. Robert Hooke (1635–1702): 6. Micrographia, 1665; 7. On Earthquakes and Fossils, 1668; Part V. Thomas Sprat (1635–1713) 8. History of the Royal Society, 1667; Part VI. John Wilkins (1614–1672): 9. An Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, 1668; Part VII. Isaac Newton (1642–1727): 10. A New Theory about Light and Colours, 1672; Appendix: Joseph Glanvill's stylistic revisions, 1661 and 1676; Glossary; Notes; Select bibliography.

'The editor offers a concise introduction to the works which highlight the importance of Bacon, the functions of the Royal Society, the relations between science and language and the impact of the former on the latter … There are excellent notes to the texts and eleven nicely placed plates. Apart from the illustration of prose style, the extracts clearly show the influence of Bacon's ideas, especially concerning the manner in which experimental results should be presented, on the major writings of the 1660s. For such reason this book is a good text for undergraduates, including those at an early stage in their studies.' Social Studies of Science, 18 (1988): 755