In this fascinating look at the European scientific advances of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, historian Lisa Jardine demonstrates that the pursuit of knowledge occurs not in isolation, but rather in the lively interplay and frequently cutthroat competition between creative minds.
The great thinkers of that extraordinary age, including Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, and Christopher Wren, are shown in the context in which they lived and worked. We learn of the correspondences they kept with their equally passionate colleagues and come to understand the unique collaborative climate that fostered virtuoso discoveries in the areas of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, biology, chemistry, botany, geography, and engineering. Ingenious Pursuits brilliantly chronicles the true intellectual revolution that continues to shape our very understanding of ourselves, and of the world around us.

Lisa Jardine, Commander of the Order of the British Empi

Lisa Jardine, Commander of the Order of the British Empi

Lisa Jardine, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is the director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Lettre, is the director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Lettre, is the director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters, the centenary professor of Renaissance Studies at Queeners, the centenary professor of Renaissance Studies at Queeners, the centenary professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, and a fellow of the Royal Histo Ma