Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison. This item is unavailable.Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison

This work examines the scientific education of four important figures of the American republic, looking at how they employed their knowledge in shaping the political issues of the day and how they incorporated scientific reasoning into the constitution. Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States, was able to read and comprehend Newton's "Principia". Benjamin Franklin had attained international scientific fame by 1775, his "Experiments and Observations on Electricity" having been translated into six languages before the American Revolution. John Adams underwent one of the finest educations in science that the "new" country could provide, including courses in "Pneumaticks", "Hydrostaticks", "Mechaniks", "Statiks" and "Optiks". James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, peppered his Federalist Papers with references to physics, chemistry and the life sciences. For all these men science was an integral part of life - including political life.

I. Bernard Cohen (1914―2003) was Victor S. Thomas Professor, Emeritus, of the History of Science at Harvard University, where he taught from 1942 to 1984. He was the first American to receive the degree of Ph.D. in the History of Science. He was the author of many books, including Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and James Madison; The Science of Benjamin Franklin; Revolution in Science; The Newtonian Revolution; The Birth of a New Physics; and, with Anne Whitman, Isaac Newtonís Principia: A New Translation of Newtonís Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. He edited several series of works, including Harvard Monographs in the History of Science, Three Centuries of Science in America, and the ongoing Studies & Texts in the History of Computing. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Astronomical Society, the British Academy, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.