Jacobi Rohaulti Physica, Latine Vertit, Recensuit & Adnotationibus, Ex Illustrissimi Isaaci Newtoni, Philosophia Maximam Partem Haustis, Amplificavit and Ornavit

ROHAULT, Jacques

Edité par London: Jacob Knapton, 1718

A propos de cet article

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FRENCH PHYSICS BOOK OF THE 17TH CENTURY. In 1671, the French physicist and mathematician Jacques Rohault published his Traità de physique, the written version of his popular weekly series of scientific lectures and experimental demonstrations presented in Paris since the late 1650s. This 1671 work discusses fundamental natural phenomena such as movement, temperature or vision, cosmology and astronomy, meteorology and geosciences, and the human body. The Traità became a huge success, particularly among general readers, and was translated into Latin twice, namely under the title Tractatus physicus by Thà ophile Bonet (Geneva 1674) and as Physica by Samuel Clarke (London 1697, with notes). Of these two renderings, it was the second one that proved more influential, becoming "the outstanding scientific textbook in England (and America) in the first half of the eighteenth century" (Sarton 1948, 144). The fourth and last edition, which forms the subject of the present entry, was in turn reprinted on the continent until 1740. This 1718 fourth edition (translated by Clarke) opens with a dedication by the translator to the bishop and scholar John Moore. The long preface of the author identifies four problems which have hindered the progress of science so far, namely excessive reliance on authorities, too much metaphysics, separation of theoretical reasoning and experimentation and too little mathematics. Rohault also narrates the genesis of his work and outlines its structure and contents. Clarke's 1718 translation is very readable indeed. He avoids overlong sentences and strikes a balance between linguistic classicism and the terminological needs of science. Technical terms are always printed in italics and defined at their first occurrence. Further guidance for the reader is provided by marginalia already present in the French original such Quid sit Zodiacus ("What the zodiac is", p. 267) alongside each paragraph. The most striking trait of Clarke's version, however, is the aforementioned annotation, which is highlighted already on the title page (where it is announced to be "longer by half" than in the earlier editions). The notes, which often take up the better part of the page, complement, criticize and contradict the body text and cumulatively replace the Cartesian worldview advocated by Rohault with a Newtonian one. For a recent discussion of Rohault s Cartesian views of chemistry, see J.A. Goldstein, An Ending? Mathematics and Natural Philosophy Education at Liberal Dissenting Academies in the Aftermath of the Scientific Revolution, 1689-1786 , Doctoral Dissertation, Temple University, pp 214-219. BOOK DETAILS AND CONDITION: 8vo, cont. tooled leather, worn, tear in spine, some foxing: xxxii, 495 pp, xvi (Index), 27 folding plates of diagrams. Overall VG.

N° de réf. du vendeur EBS100434

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Jacobi Rohaulti Physica, Latine Vertit, Recensuit & Adnotationibus, Ex Illustrissimi Isaaci Newtoni, Philosophia Maximam Partem Haustis, Amplificavit and Ornavit
• Éditeur: London: Jacob Knapton
• Date de parution: 1718
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: 4th Edition.
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: No Jacket
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Medicine
  • Chemistry
  • Physics