The Birth of Modern Science: How 17th-Century Breakthroughs Emerged from Four Civilizations | Historical Science Book for Students & Researchers

I confess that I was intimidated by the thickness of the book and was reluctant to devote more than a week's time reading its 750 pages when I had so many other things on my plate. Still, given the author's reputation and the continuing confusion in the historiography of the Scientific Revolution, I was obligated to crack it open - especially given the promise of its title. I addressed my fear of its bulk by cutting it down to size - literally. With an exacto knife and some library tape, I created six easy to read installments and rolled up my sleeves.What I found is the kind of book that causes one to "rewrite their lecture notes."Prof. Cohen is an honest historian who is not disposed to placing square pegs into round holes. His classification schemes and the suggestions of causality are all very reasonable. His forays into occasional counterfactuals are necessary for the purpose at hand and are not overly fanciful. Perhaps the best praise I can give for the book is that when I did find occasions to disagree with Prof. Cohen, I found myself using his language and classification schemes to articulate my thoughts. That is a mark of success.On the downside, if I can call it that, is the overwhelming range and depth of material that is presented here. There are few people who could have written this. No doubt, Prof Cohen was obligated to discuss any part of the historical record that his colleagues might expect him to account for. Still, after the first 300 pages, I felt as though I was treading water - perhaps because I was already taken in by his arguments, so that some of the last half of the book struck me as overkill. I would have preferred a book of the same length and the same content, but with extensive endnotes. I would very much like to see Prof. Cohen state his case in an essay (while referencing his book heavily) - or perhaps that is a job for someone else. In any case, I think the ideas he presented here should be made more accessible than they currently are and I hope my review convinces potential readers that this book is worth the investment of time and money.