Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2009
Summary
It is natural that all of us first hear about Christopher Wren through his most obvious legacy: the churches, the palaces and hospitals, and the cathedral, that have graced London for three centuries. The buildings, however, are the products of Wren's intellectual maturity and until the age of thirty-seven, he was professionally engaged in astronomy while maintaining broad interests in other branches of mathematics and natural philosophy. The imbalance in the basis of Wren's popular acclaim is understandable, but the scholarly neglect of an important source for appreciating his attitudes and philosophy is not. This book is an attempt to amend the neglect and to approach Wren by following the route of his own intellectual development.
It was Michael Hoskin who first suggested to me that Wren's science would be a fruitful topic for research, and much of the basic work was done while preparing a Ph.D. dissertation at Cambridge under his supervision. I am grateful to him and to Alistair Crombie for encouraging me to develop the ideas and material further into a book. I want especially to thank my wife France for her help and encouragement while I was preparing the dissertation and writing the book. J.A.B.
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- Information
- The Mathematical Science of Christopher Wren , pp. ix - xPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1983