Fallen languages
Subtitle: crises of representation in Newtonian England, 1660-1740
By: Robert Markley.
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: Ithaca
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
Subjects: Newton, Isaac, Sir, 1642-1727 -- Influence.; English prose literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism.; English prose literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism.; Literature and science -- England -- History -- 17th century.; Literature and science -- England -- History -- 18th century.; English language -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Rhetoric.; English language -- 18th century -- Rhetoric.; Language and culture -- England -- History.; Mimesis in literature.
Description: According to Robert Markley, historians and philosophers of science who link the "rise" of science to the "rise" of modern, objective forms of writing are interpreting the works of Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, and their contemporaries far too narrowly. Focusing on the crises of representation in the discourse of "physico-theology" in English natural philosophy from 1660 to 1740, Markley demonstrates the crucial role played by theology in the development of modern science.

Drawing on the insights of such theorists as Mikhail Bakhtin, Michel Serres, Jean-Joseph Goux, and Geoffrey Chew, Markley looks closely at a number of works - Boyle's Some Considerations Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures, John Wilkins's Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language, Peter Shaw's restructured "Abridgement" of Boyle, and several popularizations of Newton's thought, as well as his theological manuscripts and his Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.