Hunter, Michael Cyril William

Science and society in restoration England by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
11 editions published between 1981 and 1992 in English and Undetermined and held by 649 libraries worldwide

Boyle : between God and science by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
4 editions published between 2009 and 2010 in English and held by 520 libraries worldwide
Robert Boyle ranks with Newton and Einstein as one of the world's most important scientists. Aristocrat and natural philosopher, he was a remarkably wide-ranging and penetrating thinker - pioneering the modern experimental method, championing a novel mechanical view of nature, and reflecting deeply on philosophical and theological issues related to science. But, as Michael Hunter shows, Boyle was also a complex and contradictory personality, fascinated by alchemy and magic and privately plagued with doubts about faith and conscience, which troubled the rational vision he heralded. This extraordinary work is the first biography of Boyle in a generation, and the culminating achievement of a world-renowned expert on the scientist. Deftly navigating Boyle's voluminous published works as well as his personal letters and papers, Hunter's complete and intimate account gives us the man rather than the myth, the troubled introvert as well as the public campaigner. Lively, perceptive, and full of original insights, this is the definitive account of a remarkable man and the changing world in which he lived.

John Aubrey and the realm of learning by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
8 editions published in 1975 in English and held by 446 libraries worldwide

Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment ( Book )
7 editions published between 1992 and 1999 in English and held by 445 libraries worldwide

The occult laboratory magic, science, and second sight in late seventeenth-century Scotland by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
5 editions published in 2001 in English and held by 392 libraries worldwide
The uncanny ability of certain individuals to foresee future events had long been regarded as a characteristic of the Scottish Highlands, but in the late seventeenth century interest in the phenomenon came to a head, stimulated by English scientific and philosophical curiosity about magic, particularly second sight. The natural philosopher Robert Boyle and other English savants investigated these Highland beliefs; they found the region a kind of laboratory, strange yet accessible, where data about unusual beliefs could be collected and theories tested.

Robert Boyle reconsidered ( Book )
9 editions published between 1994 and 2003 in English and Undetermined and held by 373 libraries worldwide
This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (1627-91), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton. It comprises a series of essays by scholars from Europe and North America which scrutinise Boyle's writings on science, philosophy and theology in detail, bringing out the subtlety of his ideas and the complexity of his relationship with his context. Particular attention is given to Boyle's interest in alchemy and to other facets of his ideas which might initially seem surprising in a leading advocate of the mechanical philosophy. Many of the essays use material from among Boyle's extensive manuscripts, which have recently been catalogued for the first time. The introduction surveys the state of Boyle studies and deploys the findings of the essays to offer a revaluation of Boyle. As an additional resource, the book also includes a complete bibliography of writings on Boyle since 1940.

A free enquiry into the vulgarly received notion of nature by Robert Boyle ( Book )
4 editions published in 1996 in English and held by 328 libraries worldwide
"The main objective of Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy is to expand the range, variety, and quality of texts in the history of philosophy which are available in English. The series includes texts by familiar names (such as Descartes and Kant) and also by less well-known authors. Wherever possible, texts are published in complete and unabridged form, and translations are specially commissioned for the series. Each volume contains a critical introduction together with a guide to further reading and any necessary glossaries and textual apparatus. The volumes are designed for student use at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and will be of interest not only to students of philosophy, but also to a wider audience of readers in the history of science, the history of theology, and the history of ideas." "In this book, published in 1686, the scientist Robert Boyle (1627-91) attacked prevailing notions of the natural world which depicted 'Nature' as a wise, benevolent and purposeful being. Boyle, one of the leading mechanical philosophers of his day, believed that the world was best understood as a vast, impersonal machine, fashioned by an infinite, personal God. In this cogent treatise, he drew on his scientific findings, his knowledge of contemporary medicine and his deep reflection on theological and philosophical issues, arguing that it was inappropriate both theologically and scientifically to speak of Nature as if it had a mind of its own: instead, the only true efficient causes of things were the properties and powers given to matter by God. As such, A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature represents one of the subtlest statements concerning the philosophical issues raised by the mechanical philosophy to emerge from the period of the scientific revolution. Book jacket."--Jacket.

Establishing the new science : the experience of the early Royal Society by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
2 editions published in 1989 in English and held by 267 libraries worldwide

Science and the shape of orthodoxy : intellectual change in late seventeenth-century Britain by Michael Cyril William Hunter ( Book )
3 editions published in 1995 in English and held by 246 libraries worldwide
The late seventeenth century was a period of deep transition in British intellectual life. These years are usually associated with the rise of the new, experimental science, symbolised by the foundation of the Royal Society in 1660; but science coexisted with other intellectual traditions which displayed equal vitality, including historical and philological learning. Additionally, attitudes to magic and the wisdom of antiquity were in flux, while thinking was dominated by anxiety about 'atheism' and intellectual trends that were seen to abet this.

Love, friendship and faith in Europe, 1300-1800 ( Book )
6 editions published in 2005 in English and held by 236 libraries worldwide
Love, Friendship and Faith in Europe 1300-1800 offers exciting new studies of the meanings and forms of friendship in early modern Europe. While family and community have been extensively explored in recent decades, the more elusive experience of friendship is treated historically by this volume. Friendship is situated in several specific social frames - seventeenth-century German townsfolk, beggars in eighteenth century London, women in the households of Stuart England. Readers will encounter reciprocity and amity, intimacy and trust embedded in the idioms and materials contexts of early modern Europe: bedroom and tavern, philosophical salon and kitchen. The contributors not only make imaginative use of materials ranging from trial records to biblical translations, but also connect friendship to several current historiographical interests: in sexuality, identity, gender, association and the forging of bonds of trust. The papers have been prompted by the intellectual challenge of Alan Bray's notable book The Friend (Chicago, 2003). Friendship is a subject whose time has come. The volume engages with contemporary interests in the making of identity, and demonstrates the workings of religious idioms of amity, charity and love in the making of friendship among early modern people. This volume will, therefore, be of absorbing interest to all those interested in history and literature, opening up the private as well as public lives of early modern people.