The Cambridge Companion to Newton (2nd edition)

摘要

It feels slightly odd receiving a new edition of a recent book on a long-dead scientist, but, in fact, the past 15 years have seen a number of developments in the study of Newton's thought. Newton left an enormous number of manuscripts, letters and notes when he died, many of which have never been printed. About four million words from these are now available on The Newton Project website (www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk), but there are still more to be excavated. When dealing with the papers of a thinker from the pre-photocopying age, there is always the problem of separating his own notes and opinions from items that he merely copied or made a precis of for the purposes of comparative study. Nevertheless, a rather broader picture of Isaac Newton is now open to us than was available 15 years ago when the first edition was issued.