The Uses of Science in the Age of Newton

The Uses of Science in the Age of Newton edited by John G. Burke brings together leading historians of science to examine the contested relationship between knowledge, utility, and society in seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England. Moving beyond the older assumption that science developed in isolation from political, religious, and practical concerns, the volume engages with the “new contextualist” arguments of Margaret and James Jacob and others who claim that natural philosophy—Newtonianism above all—was deeply intertwined with Whig politics, Anglican theology, and broader social interests. At stake is whether science in the Newtonian age can be understood primarily as the disinterested pursuit of truth, or whether it must be analyzed as a body of knowledge shaped by and deployed for social and ideological purposes.

The essays address this problem from multiple vantage points: poets’ responses to Copernican astronomy; the Royal Society’s Baconian histories of trades; the revolution in instrumentation from microscopes to precision clocks; Robert Hooke’s successes and failures in applying theory to technology; early studies of gunnery and ballistics; the centuries-long challenge of solving longitude; and the politics of Newtonianism across Whig and Tory divides. Collectively, the contributors show both the promise and the limits of contextualist explanations. While ideological and social pressures clearly influenced the reception and institutionalization of science, technical innovation, methodological reform, and the drive for knowledge itself were equally decisive in shaping outcomes. Rich in case studies and historiographical debate, The Uses of Science in the Age of Newton provides a nuanced account of how science functioned within the fabric of early modern society, making it an essential resource for historians, philosophers, and anyone interested in the complex origins of modern scientific culture.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.