Cosmology in the Early Modern Age: A Web of Ideas

Paolo Bussotti is Associate Professor in History of Science and Techniques at the University of Udine (Italy). His research areas are history of science and mathematics, in particular history of geometry and number theory between the 17th and the 19th centuries, and history of physics and astronomy in the 17th century. He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications, among which a monograph on the history of the method of infinite descent (number theory), From Fermat to Gauss. Indefinite descent and methods of reduction in Number Theory (2006) and one on Leibniz's planetary theory, The complex itinerary of Leibniz's planetary theory (2015). He is the co-author (jointly with prof. R. Pisano) of many papers on the Geneva Edition of Newton's Principia published in important journals dedicated to the history of science. He is reviewer for leading scientific journals as the Zentralblatt fur Mathematik. Brunello Lotti is Associate Professor of History of Philosophy at the University of Udine (Italy). His research interests on early modern British philosophy focus on the relations between natural philosophy, metaphysics and theology, including the history of platonism, the reception of Cartesian scepticism and mechanicism, and the issue of the origin of motion. He is author of the monographs Ralph Cudworth e l'idea di natura plastica (2004), L'iperbole del dubbio. Lo scetticismo cartesiano nella filosofia inglese tra Sei e Settecento (2010), "Spiritus intus alit". La ricezione di un luogo filosofico virgiliano nel pensiero moderno (2021). He coedited Scienza e teologia fra Seicento e Ottocento. Studi in memoria di Maurizio Mamiani (2006), and Eredita cartesiane nella cultura britannica (2011). His articles and essays cover several authors in early modern British philosophy, from the Cambridge Platonists to Locke and Berkeley.

Foreword.- Preface.- Introduction.- Chapter 1. The elements of a cosmological model.- Chapter 2. Copernicus' astronomical revolution.- Chapter 3. Kepler: the cosmographer par excellence.- Chapter 4.Galileo and the spread of the Copernican system.- Chapter 5. Descartes and the new mechanistic paradigm.- Chapter 6. Huygens: the greatest Cartesian scientist.- Chapter 7. Newton and his system of the world.- Chapter 8. Leibniz: the philosopher-scientist.- Conclusion.- Bibliography.- Glossary of the Technical Terms.- Index of Subjects.- Index of Figures.- Index of Names.