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A History of Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy passed all natural phenomena of the physical world.
It sought to discover the physical causes of all natural effects and was little con-
cerned with mathematics. By contrast, the exact mathematical sciences – such as
astronomy, optics, and mechanics – were narrowly confined to pu-
tations that did not involve physical causes. Natural philosophy and the exact
sciences functioned independently of each other. Although this began slowly to
change in the late Middle Ages, a much more thoroughgoing union of natural
philosophy and mathematics occurred in the seventeenth century and thereby
made the Scientific Revolution possible. The title of Isaac Newton’s great work,
The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, perfectly reflects the new
relationship. Natural philosophy became the “Great Mother of the Sciences,”
which by the eenth century had nourished the manifold chemical, physi-
cal, and biological sciences to maturity, thus enabling them to leave the “Great
Mother” and emerge as the multiplicity of independent sciences we know today.
Edward Grant is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the History and Philosophy
of Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author or editor of twelve
books, one of which has been translated into eleven languages and one into three
languages. He is also the author of approximately y articles on the history
of science and natural philosophy. He was Vice President and President of the
History of Science Society and was awarded the prestigious e Sarton Medal
of that society.
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