Isaac’s Fear is a wide-ranging study of a Hebrew encyclopedia of Judaism by Isaac Lampronti, a rabbi and physician from eighteenth-century Ferrara, in Italy; this is the first encyclopedia of Judaism, with entries on thought and praxis. The book’s eight chapters are previously published studies. Isaac’s Fear represents the attempt to synthesize modern science and religious tradition, a fundamental issue then and in our own day. Encyclopedia entries illuminate the society and culture of early modern Italy, its Jewish community and the intellectual life of the author and his contemporaries.

The seventeenth century in Western Europe remains the key time and place for the development of modern science; the basic theme of this book is what the nature of seventeenth-century archives can tell us about this development, through a series of case studies (Boyle, Galileo, Huygens, Newton included). Manuscript collections created by the individuals and institutions who were responsible for the scientific revolution offer valuable evidence of the intellectual aspirations and working practices of the principal protagonists. This volume is the first to explore such archives, focusing on the ways in which ideas were formulated, stored and disseminated, and opening up understanding of the process of intellectual change. It analyses the characteristics andhistory of the archives of such leading intellectuals as Robert Boyle, Galileo Galilei, G.W. Leibniz, Isaac Newton and William Petty; also considered are the new scientific institutions founded at the time, the Royal Society andthe Académie des Sciences. In each case, significant broader findings emerge concerning the nature and role of such holdings; an introductory essay discusses the interpretation and exploitation of archives. MICHAEL HUNTERis Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Contributors: MICHAEL HUNTER, MASSIMO BUCCIANTINI, MARK GREENGRASS, ROBERT A. HATCH, FRANCES HARRIS, JOELLA YODER, DOMENICO BERTOLONI MELI, ROB ILIFFE, JAMES G.O'HARA, MORDECHAI FEINGOLD, CHRISTIANE DEMEULENAERE-DOUYRE, DAVID STURDY

"An essential perspective for those seeking a serious introduction to early geological science and a fundamental point of departure for future research.... No other book has this scope and conceptual focus."—Kenneth L. Taylor, University of OklahomaIn the years between 1665 and 1750, geology was a new kind of science, combining physical law with historical process. Rhoda Rappaport explains its novelty and provides a transnational account of the development of geological thinking. She begins with the establishment of formal institutions of international exchange, including the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and the Journal des savants in Paris, and shows how new media fostered increasing communication among scientists, particularly in England, France, and Italy. Early geological thinking was thoroughly integrated with epistemology, historical and biblical scholarship, natural philosophy, and natural history. Ancient written documents supplemented what was called "physical conjecture," providing human witnesses to past events. How to combine elements of law, empirical observations, and texts posed serious problems in debates about the biblical flood, which Rappaport presents as a prime example of a well-attested historical event. Buffon argued forcefully that geology should be wholly a physical science and that historical texts were irrelevant to the reconstruction of physical processes. Rappaport explains how his contemporaries responded to this novel proposal and how Buffon heralded the end of an era.

Leibniz’s correspondence from his years spent in Paris (1672-1676) reflects his growth to mathematical maturity whereas that from the years 1676-1701 reveals his growth to maturity in science, technology and medicine in the course of which more than 2000 letters were exchanged with more than 200 correspondents. The remaining years until his death in 1716 witnessed above all the appearance of his major philosophical works. The focus of the present work is Leibniz's middle period and the core themes and core texts from his multilingual correspondence are presented in English from the following subject areas: mathematics, natural philosophy, physics (and cosmology), power technology (including mining and transport), engineering and engineering science, projects (scientific, technological and economic projects), alchemy and chemistry, geology, biology and medicine.