Great Courses : History of science, 1700-1900
(DVD Video)

Course guidebooks include lecture outlines and notes, a time line, glossary, biographical notes, and bibliography.

Producer, James Blandford ; academic content supervisor, Maggie Lyons ; director, Tom Dunton ; camera operators, Damien Smith, Jon Leven.

Thirty-six lectures of thirty minutes each by Frederick Gregory, Professor of History of Science at the University of Florida.

In the period 1700-1900, kings and empires rose and fell, but science conquered all, taking the world by storm. Yet, as the 1700s began, the mysteries of the universe were pondered by "natural philosophers" whose explanations couldn't help but be influenced by religious thought, and political and social contexts shaping their world. The ideas of the Enlightenment were especially important and influential, and the work of these natural philosophers prepared the way for the more familiar world of science recognized today. The main themes are inquiries into the history of the cosmos and the realm of living things; the attempt to break from occult explanations of chemical phenomena and their persistence in explaining natural phenomena; the proliferation of physical forces discovered and investigated; and the recurring theme of the relationship of God to nature.

DVD.