Sources for the history of science, 1660-1914

The abundant and varied sources for the history of science over two and a half
crucial centuries are described in this book. Focusing on the physical sciences
in Great Britain, Mr. Knight surveys the material available, offers assessments of
its uses, and warns of its possible misuses.
He examines written sources, both technical and non-technical, and laboratory equipment, industrial apparatus, scale-models, and other evidence that has survived from the period between the rise of the scientific societies in the 1660’s
and the beginning of World War I. Identifying the kinds of questions that the
sources cannot answer, he guides the reader to the wide range of general questions
they can answer. Throughout, Mr. Knight argues that the sources for the history of
science are as valuable as those for other branches of history in shedding light on
the social, economic, and political history of a period or a nation.