This book presents a general, unifying view of the developments of the ideas and the experimental findings underlying the evolution of physical knowledge from classical antiquity to the Eighteenth century. It is based on the study of the original sources in ancient texts, and includes classical antiquity with the Hellenic, Hellenistic and Greco-Roman ages, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. In particular, the ideas which gave rise to the experimental method and to the modern approach to physical phenomena are discussed in detail. Particularly original is the book’s focus on Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.

This book presents a general, unifying view of the developments of the ideas and the experimental findings underlying the evolution of physical knowledge from classical antiquity to the Eighteenth century. It is based on the study of the original sources in ancient texts, and includes classical antiquity with the Hellenic, Hellenistic and Greco-Roman ages, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. In particular, the ideas which gave rise to the experimental method and to the modern approach to physical phenomena are discussed in detail. Particularly original is the book's focus on Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.

The book tells the fascinating story of physics starting from the 19th century, from the wave theory of light, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism, up to the discoveries of the 20th century. It investigates the frequently contrasting ideas and the raging arguments that led to our current understanding of the physical world, from the theory of relativity to quantum mechanics.

The history of physics ranges from antiquity to modern string theory. Since early times, human beings have sought to understand the workings of nature--why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, and so forth. The emergence of physics as a science, distinct from natural philosophy, began with the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries when the scientific method came into vogue. Speculation was no longer acceptable; research was required. The beginning of the 20th century marks the start of a more modern physics. Physicists began to study the atom, with its electrons and its nucleus. Then they began to look at the fundamental question of the forces that hold the nucleus together and the particles that account for the natural forces. This book approaches the history of physics from a biographical point of view, considering people to be more interesting than things, and the combination of the two more interesting than the sum of the individual parts. After a brief overview of classical and modern physics, 336 one-page biographies of individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of physics are presented.

The story of the beliefs and practices called 'magic' starts in ancient Iran, Greece, and Rome, before entering its crucial Christian phase in the Middle Ages. Centering on the Renaissance and Marsilio Ficino - whose work on magic was the most influential account written in premodern times - this groundbreaking book treats magic as a classical tradition with foundations that were distinctly philosophical. Besides Ficino, the premodern story of magic also features Plotinus, Iamblichus, Proclus, Aquinas, Agrippa, Pomponazzi, Porta, Bruno, Campanella, Descartes, Boyle, Leibniz, and Newton, to name only a few of the prominent thinkers discussed in this book. Because pictures play a key role in the story of magic, this book is richly illustrated.