Isaac Beeckman on Matter and Motion: Mechanical Philosophy in the Making

Preface

This book has been long in the making. It goes back to my student days at the University of Groningen in the 1970s, when as a research assistant I was to asked to take a quick look at what Isaac Beeckman’s printed Journal might reveal about his relationship with René Descartes. The material was so overwhelming that I decided to write a Ph.D. thesis at Utrecht University on Beeckman ’s contribution to what at that time I called—in the tradition of E. J. Dijksterhuis—the mechanization of the world picture. This book essentially started as a translation, long overdue, of that Dutch doctoral dissertation of 1983. I have, of course, included new material, added new insights, and refined some of the conclusions, but those who are familiar with the original text will see that basically my views of Beeckman have not changed. Since it has taken so long to produce this study, I have incurred many debts, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them here. In the first place my thanks are due to both of my supervisors, professor Harry Snelders from Utrecht University and the late professor Edzo Waterbolk from the University of Groningen. The latter was the one who introduced me to the enigmatic figure of Beeckman while I was his assistant at Groningen, and the former invited me in 1978 to do my Ph.D. research at his Utrecht Institute for the History of Science. I will always be grateful for the freedom they gave me in choosing my own topic and for the support they provided me while I was working on the dissertation. In the years since I defended and published my thesis, many colleagues have encouraged me to publish an English translation. Especially Floris Cohen (Twente University, at present Utrecht University) and Mordechai Feingold (formerly West Virginia Polytechnic, currently California Institute of Technology ) never gave up hoping that I would finally succeed in doing so. Yet, if it had not been for Maarten Ultee (University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa), it might never have happened. When I spent some time in Tuscaloosa on a trip through Preface viii preface the United States, financed by the United States Information Service, by pure coincidence I met Maarten and out of our discussions grew the plan to try to interest the Johns Hopkins University Press in publishing an English translation of an updated version of my thesis. With generous financial support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), which is here gratefully acknowledged, Maarten was able to produce a first draft of a translation of a shortened version of my original publication. In the following years, however, many other things intervened, and the Beeckman book threatened to become one of those legendary books that are always “forthcoming” but never appear in print. So, everything might have gone wrong if Moti Feingold had not invited me to come to Caltech and finalize the book. During two busy months in the fall of 2004, I managed to establish the text of this book. I owe Moti a great debt for not giving up on me and for putting me to work at Caltech. In the last few years I was able, in between other duties, to put the finishing touches on this book. I thank the director of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study at Wassenaar, Wim Blockmans, for giving me the opportunity to do most of this at the NIAS. I also thank Floris Cohen, Christoph Lüthy, and Rienk Vermij for taking the trouble to carefully read through my text and point out mistakes, obscure passages, and misinterpretations. The book has evidently profited from their constructive criticism. In the end, Linda Schneider (Harvard University) thoroughly went through the whole text and not only partially retranslated it but also pointed out many remaining inconsistencies and minor gaps in my argument. I am extremely grateful for the effort she put into it. Nevertheless, only I remain responsible for what I have written aboutBeeckmanandhismechanicalphilosophy.Ihopeitwillstimulateothers to take a look at his fascinating Journal for themselves—there is so much more to do. Isaac Beeckman on Matter and Motion This page intentionally left blank ...