The Christian Philosopher

The prominent Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather published The Christian Philosopher in 1721, eight years after he had been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. The first comprehensive book on science written by an American, it was intended to demonstrate the harmony between science and religion. Mather surveyed all the known sciences from astronomy and physics to human anatomy. He presented evidence that both celestial and terrestrial phenomena imply an intelligent designer.
Winton Solberg's introduction places Mather's treatise in its widest historical context. In addition to tracing the origins and sources of Mather's work, Solberg analyzes the book's contents, its reception, and its significance in American intellectual and cultural history. This edition returns Mather to his rightful place in American thought, as a deeply religious intellectual whose warm reception of the new science helped bridge the gap between the medieval worldview and the scientific revolution of Copernicus and Newton.

In this lengthy study, originally published in 1721, Mather (1633-1728) examined Scripture and nature-the two great books of God-in order to show that the new science of Newton and his contemporaries is not at odds with traditional Christianity. While much of his science is outdated, the book remains appealing because of Mather's approach. To the natural science of Europe, the Puritan divine of Colonial New England, Mather added his own observations concerning the region's flora and fauna. Solberg (history, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) has provided very full notes identifying Mather's sources and translating his classical quotations, as well as a biographical register. His introductory essay places Mather in the context of his times, showing that he was not the ignorant witch-hunter he is usually portrayed as. For academic and large public libraries.
Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, Newark, N.J.
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