A Culture of Fact: England, 1550-1720
"Shapiro has written an excellent work in intellectual and cultural history."—Virginia Quarterly Review, Vol. 76, No. 3."A Culture of Fact is clearly written and lucidly arranged. . . The work rests upon an impressive amount of reading in the vernacular printed books of the period, and also makes use of some archival material from the Royal Society."—R.W. Serjeantson, Trinity College. Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 52, No. 3, July 2001"The book is filled with quotes and references to a very wide range of primary as well as secondary sources. It will be of much heuristic value in studying the changing meanings of 'fact' in this period, quite apart from Shapiro's strong argument concerning the special role of the law."—Peter Dear, Cornell University. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 36(4) Fall 2000"This nutshell presentation does far from justice to the nuances of the basic argument of the book, still less to the striking nature of the supporting detail. . . It should be given a hearty welcome as a trenchant and well illustrated contribution to an ongoing debate."—Paul Dukes, Journal of European Studies, Fall 2000"Fascinating work. . . Shapiro admirably achieves her aim, which is to shed light on questions relating to disciplinary development and permeability. She emphasizes the legal origins of 'fact' without overestimating legal influences in the development of other disciplines. She shows how this critical element of our language of empiricism was shaped out of legal practices and how a concept of 'fact' grounded in human acts and testimony became a commonplace of Anglo-American cultural practice."—Karen Cunningham, University of California, Los Angeles. Renaissance Quarterly"Commanding both a formidable range of reference and a lucid prose style, Shapiro has something interesting to say about almost every topic she touches. . . Shapiro's book can be recommended as essential reading for anyone concerned with the intellectual history of early modern England."—Wilfrid Prest, University of Adelaide. American Historical Review, February 2001"A Culture of Fact is a superb realization of a great idea. Erudite, conceptually rich, and thought provoking, it also constitutes an important supplement to several areas of scholarship in early modern English intellectual history."—Donald R. Kelley, James Westfall Thompson Professor of History, Rutgers University, and Editor, Journal of the History of Ideas"Barbara Shapiro's original account of the concept of fact in early-modern English culture moves outward from law to virtually every area of professional and lay intellectual curiosity and endeavor. Thoughtful, learned, and admirably lucid, A Culture of Fact is an important contribution to the study of post-Medieval Western culture in general."—Thomas A. Green, University of Michigan