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"IN the following pages the attempt is made to give a reasonably
full account of the achievements of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries in the whole field of "natural" knowledge. All the sciences,
including several which have not hitherto been included in
histories of science, receive due attention, and details are given of
all the important work done in each of them during the first two
centuries of the modern period. A considerable amount of space is
also allotted to the principal branches of technology. The volume,
moreover, includes a fairly full account of the philosophy of the
period as an aid to the understanding of the general intellectual
orientation of its scientists. It is hoped that the exposition is sufficiently
clear, and the illustrations sufficiently illuminating to enable the
general reader to profit greatly from this history. Its primary aim,
however, is to meet the needs of the serious student. For this reason
the work is fully documented. The plan of incorporating a select
bibliography (giving precise references) in the text will probably
be found much more helpful than is the usual formal bibliography,
which makes it about as easy to find the authority for a particular
view as it is to find a needle in a haystack. A more formal biblio-
graphy for the whole modern period will be included in the
concluding volume."
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