History of the Inductive Sciences

Volume 1 of Whewell's 1837 History covers Greek physics and metaphysics, their medieval reception, and the rise of modern astronomy.

Whewell's History, published in 1837, surveys the development of the physical sciences from Pythagoras to the early nineteenth century. Volume 1 focuses on ancient Greek physics and metaphysics and their reception during the middle ages. It also discusses the rise of modern astronomy as exemplified by Copernicus and Kepler.A central figure in Victorian science, William Whewell (1794–1866) held professorships in Mineralogy and Moral Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge, before becoming Master of the college in 1841. His mathematical textbooks, such as A Treatise on Dynamics (1823), were instrumental in bringing French analytical methods into British science. This three-volume history, first published in 1837, is one of Whewell's most famous works. Taking the 'acute, but fruitless, essays of Greek philosophy' as a starting point, it provides a history of the physical sciences that culminates with the mechanics, astronomy, and chemistry of 'modern times'. Volume 1 studies Greek physics and metaphysics, attributing their failure to a method that derived its principles from the common use of language. It surveys the state of the physical sciences in the middle ages, and deals with the rise of 'formal' astronomy - based on observation rather than calculation - as exemplified by Copernicus.