"...this is a timely and valuable contribution to our knowledge o the period and its great figures. There is a wealth of incidental, but always relevant and often fascinating, historical detail. Another distinctive feature of his book is that, thought it concerns a highly technical subject matter, his own discussion is anything but technical in any overtly formal sense: in fact, there are hardly any formulas in the book. Yet he succeeds in conveying, in words, the technical ideas both precisely and clearly, Its thoroughness, combined with an assured informality and lightness of touch, make the book an enlightening and entertaining read." -Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 02/02/2003