From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Hideyo Noguchi Lecture) [Paperback]

Alexandre Koyre (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hideyo Noguchi Lecture | Publication Date: October 1, 1968

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a radical change occurred in the patterns and the framework of European thought. In the wake of discoveries through the telescope and Copernican theory, the notion of an ordered cosmos of "fixed stars" gave way to that of a universe infinite in both time and space—with significant and far-reaching consequences for human thought. Alexandre Koyré interprets this revolution in terms of the change that occurred in our conception of the universe and our place in it and shows the primacy of this change in the development of the modern world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An important contribution to the problem of the transition from the world view characteristic of the medieval centuries to that which rapidly gained acceptance after the seventeenth century.

(Philosophical Quarterly )

Koyré has provided the material and has illuminated it with uniformly perceptive and occasionally brilliant commentary... An important contribution to the study of 17th-century thought.

(Thomas S. Kuhn Science )

A model of scholarliness without pedantry, of clarity without oversimplification.

(Arthur Koestler Encounter )

Surely a work that will be welcomed alike by the scientist, philosopher, and historian of ideas.

(Philosophy and Phenomenological Research )

About the Author

Alexandre Koyré was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris. His books include Discovering Plato and Newtonian Studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1st edition (October 1, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801803470
• ISBN-13: 978-0801803475
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Elegance Defined, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Hideyo Noguchi Lecture) (Paperback)

Korye's decades-old book is still a pleasure and a marvel to read. The ideas developed in this first-rate work are lucidly and extensively developed and contain such subtle gems of thought that one could not possibly discover all of them with a single reading. Anyone with even but a passing interest in the history and philosophy of science should add this book to his library. A true classic!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grappling with the biggest questions of all, April 16, 2006

By 

K. F. Laux "kflaux" (Bloomington, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Hideyo Noguchi Lecture) (Paperback)

Of all the tomes I read during my years studying the history of science, this is the one I tend to come back to the most.

Koyre describes the thinking of such diverse figures as Giordano Bruno, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Henry More, and Johannes Kepler regarding the possibility that the universe might be of unlimited extent. As such, the discussions, particularly early on, deal more with scholastic philosophy, with heavy emphasis on religious implications. They deal with abstract notions, and some of the thinking of these early figures is quite bold, startling even, and beautiful, after a fashion.

It is apropos to recall that science was long known as "natural philosophy"...and indeed, as the former figures give way to the analyses of Newton and Leibniz, we find Koyre's work limning the disentangling of these two threads, philosophy and science, at least with respect to cosmology.

In particular, Koyre underlines one of the most ironical developments in all the history of ideas at the very end of the book, in recounting how the triumph of Newtonian physics rendered superfluous the God that it had been Newton's purpose to honor through his science.

Not for everyone; but for me, magnificent.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the european colloquy for all time and space, May 10, 2003

By 

Alvaro Lewis "jwatson5" (Redwood City, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Hideyo Noguchi Lecture) (Paperback)

Readers of this book beware, its themes are huge! It contains lucid narrative of the competition from Cartesians to Newtonians for the best model of the universe and the nature of time and space. There are scarcely any baggy corners into which the reader will turn unwillingly. However, there is not terribly much about the science or the methods of discovery employed by these thinkers in their shared pursuit of important results. Koyre has written a classic study of intellectual history. Discussion of divinity and its aspects is abundant because this presence was one that the scientists were working diligently to situate without offending the authorities and employers of the age. The universe is a source whose study has profoundly metaphysical and ontological implications. Koyre brings these alive for the reader and shares the tumult of ideas that produced much of what we consider now to be a satisfactory vision of the universe.