Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and Madison

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W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 - 368 Seiten

Thomas Jefferson was the only president who could read and understand Newton's Principia. Benjamin Franklin is credited with establishing the science of electricity. John Adams had the finest education in science that the new country could provide, including "Pnewmaticks, Hydrostaticks, Mechanicks, Staticks, Opticks." James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, peppered his Federalist Papers with references to physics, chemistry, and the life sciences.

For these men science was an integral part of life--including political life. This is the story of their scientific education and of how they employed that knowledge in shaping the political issues of the day, incorporating scientific reasoning into the Constitution.

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Inhalt

Preface
11
A Scientist in the World of Public Affairs
135
Some Aspects of the Thought and Career
196
6
281
WOODROW WILSON ON THE CONSTITUTION NEWTONIAN
308
Notes
315
Acknowledgments
351
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Autoren-Profil (1997)

Born in Far Rockaway, New York, I. Bernard Cohen earned degrees from Harvard University. He holds the distinction of being the first person in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in the history of science. Later, Cohen established the History of Science Department at Harvard. Cohen has received many fellowships and has won the George Sarton Medal, awarded by the History of Science Society. Cohen is an author and editor, known for his books about Sir Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin.

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