Newton and the Netherlands

The Dutch Republic proved to be extremely receptive to the ground breaking ideas of Isaac Newton (1643-1727). Dutch scholars such as Willem Jacob ‘s Gravesande and Petrus van Musschenbroek played a crucial role in the dissemination of Newton’s work, not only in the Netherlands and also in the rest of Europe. In the course of the eighteenth century, Newton’s ideas (in different guises and interpretations) became a veritable hype in Dutch society. In Newton and the Netherlands Newton’s sudden success is analysed in great depth and put into a new perspective.

Eric Jorink is researcher at the Huygens Institute for Netherlands History (Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ad Maas is curator at the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the Netherlands.

“A new light on several major figures involved in the reception of Newton’s work.” – prof. Bert Theunissen, Institute for the History and Foundations of Science/ Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Utrecht University

“This book provides an important contribution to the study of the European Enlightenment with new insights in the circulation of knowledge.”– prof. Frans van Lunteren, Leiden University