A systematic account of the importance of sociology for the understanding of scientific knowledge. Applying sociological analysis to specific historical case studies, the work attempts to show how the sociological approach is an essential complement to interpretations of scientific knowledge from other disciplines, and a necessary contribution to obtaining a scientific understanding of science. This book should be of interest to students in the social sciences and the history and philosophy of science, and to academics interested in knowledge, epistemology, the history of ideas and the new...

An annotated translation of Jean Fernel's On the Hidden Causes of Things (1542), with a scholarly introduction showing its great importance in the intellectual history of the Renaissance. The only sixteenth-century writer, apart from Paracelsus, to develop a new theory of disease, Fernel was also a leading natural philosopher. His survey of the role of occult qualities and powers in life processes, especially generation, and in contagious and pestilential diseases draws upon astrology, alchemy, and other occult sciences. Although an original and innovatory thinker, Fernel operated...

A highly readable historical survey of the major developments in scientific thought and the impact of science on Western culture, this book takes the reader from ancient times through to the twentieth century. Organized chronologically, the book explores the history of studies of the natural world, and man's role within that world, in a single volume.

"If a politician tells me it's daytime, I'm going to walk outside and check" John Henry is an average American. He loves his family. He's not rich or politically connected. He's kept his nose clean, served in the military, votes and plays by the rules. He believes in this country and idolizes American heroes. He loves the American culture and freedom. He loves and respects those who have made the sacrifices for his freedoms. He believes in God and wishes the best for his fellow man. He respects the rights and privacy of all. He wonders what has happened to his country and the leaders we have...