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Jean-Jacques Dortour de Mairan and the Geneva Connection 1996 - Scientific Networking in the Eighteenth Century (Hardcover)
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Jean-Jacques Dortour de Mairan and the Geneva Connection 1996 - Scientific Networking in the Eighteenth Century (Hardcover)
Series: Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, 340
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This study illustrates the significance of Jean-Jacques Dortous de
Mairan's networking in the spread of Enlightenment thought. It
focuses primarily on the unpublished correspondence between Mairan
and the Geneva scientists, Firmin Abauzit, Gabriel Cramer, Jean
Jallabert and Charles Bonnet. Mairan was an assiduous correspondent
whose letters reveal the progress of scientific thought in the
first three quarters of the eighteenth century. Despite the high
regard in which of his contemporaries, he has been, until recently,
relatively neglected by Enlightenment scholars. This is the first
full-length study devoted to Mairan's relations with scientists in
other countries, to the process of cross-fertilisation in the
production of scientific knowledge, and to his considerable
influence on the development of scientific thought on key issues.
The topics covered in the letters range from the Shape of the Earth
and vis vivacontroversies and the medical powers of electricity, to
the nature of the Seichesin the Lac du Leman and the origin of
monsters. One of the major interests of the correspondence is
Mairan's obvious fascination with Newton. Neglect of his
contribution to the history of ideas can be partly explained by the
fact that he was unfairly considered a 'last-ditch' Cartesian in a
triumphantly Newtonian world. The detailed analysis of the letters
in this study amply shows a constant preoccupation with both the
Opticks and the Principiaand a fairly sophisticated understanding
of scientific method. The letters abound in references to other
scientists, such as the Bernoullis, Nollet, Dufay and Maupertuis.
They provide an exciting, unguarded and 'behind-the-scenes' view of
scientific developments before they were finalised and appeared in
published works. It is particularly revealing, therefore, to
compare the letters to Mairan's contributions to the Memoires de
l'Academie royale des sciences, his early dissertations, and his
mature works. Mairan's unpublished correspondence with Geneva
scientists is a treasure-house of information on personalities,
ideas and controversies of crucial importance to the international
scientific community from 1717 to 1769.
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