Reviews for Newton On Mathematics And Spiritual Purity

The average rating for Newton On Mathematics And Spiritual Purity based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-05-30 00:00:00 J�rg Maltzan I accessed this book through my local public library after a meeting with the Astronomy Club. I believe the authors succeeded in presenting a cross section of the big discoverers recognized by the Western world in the field of Astronomy. This was their goal and they definitely reached it with the good balance between enthusiasm and detail versus succinctness and understandability. This book is a great way to familiarize yourself with some highlights (with a determinedly Western cultural bent) and set you on a path to continue your study of a particular person or type of discovery. I didn't particularly enjoy the language they chose to use between "we" and "I" because it seemed to erase the secondary author and her involvement. On that same note, I noticed more passive language was used when talking about a woman discoverer. I also wished for more acknowledgement of the effect the environment/society/economics/politics has on the way these people were able to study their craft. Sometimes it would be touched on (like in the last chapter) but I felt that it should have been in every chapter with at least one sentences talking about how particular things privileged or disadvantaged certain members of the work. I felt like this book recognized more women then other books in this field but didn't acknowledge the awkward truth about how mysogyny or classism or racism played a part in homogenizing the group of currently recognized experts into mostly old white guys. Just mentioning the name and discovery of a woman but refusing to talk about why women are a rarity in this field seems to skirt an issue that still effects people like me today. I'm no longer satisfied with token inclusion; I want to see leaders in this field try to have the uncomfortable discussions and acknowledgements because refusing to discuss these things is proving to be an ineffective way to address them.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-05-30 00:00:00 David Preaus This is one of a series of books on science written by non-scientists. The series includes David Foster Wallace writing on infinity, amongst others. Vollmann has got Copernicus and seminal work "The Revolutions of the Heavenly Speres". One of the works which began to place the sun at the centre of the universe, rather than the earth. The subject is not a straightforward one and you really have to be a fan of astronomy to be captivated by it, but Vollmann throws himself into it with gusto and a good deal of vigour. He examines the links between Copernicus and the classical writers who tackled the same subject, especially Ptolemy. He also examines the role of the Church and the scriptures in all this. Vollmann is quite self-deprecating at times and throws in a few good one-liners, mixing exegesis of the text with the technical stuff. Some of the technical stuff was beyond my mathematical and astronomical competence: "Now, if we uncenter ourselves in obedience to the compelling circles and angles of 'Revolutions,' we'll come to see that the eccentric radius of any planet equals its relative mean distance from the Sun, while the epicyclic radius corresponds to Earth's relative mean distance from the same point. Never mind the fact that Ptolemy's eccentric radii for all four planets (and the Sun) equal 60 units while the epicyclic radii vary; this is simply an artifact of observations taken from a moving Earth rather than a relatively motionless Sun. The important fact is the ratio itself. For Mars, then, the ratio is 60 divided by 39*, or 1.518, a number which differs by less than 1 percent from the currently calculated mean Martian distance from the Sun of 1.524 astronomical units." The exegesis is more interesting and typically Vollmann. Who else would check Calvin's collected works to see if he mentions Copernicus? The discussion is the most interesting part of the work, if you're interested in the subject. There is some interesting historical analysis too.