Newton and Russia: The Early Influence, 1698-1796 (Russian Research Center Studies)

At the end of the seventeenth century, knowledge of the heliocentric concept of the universe was almost nonexistent in Russia outside of Kiev and Moscow, and St. Petersburg, the cradle of Russian science, had not been built. Three decades later, however, Isaac Newton’s revolutionary doctrines had taken root in the St. Petersburg Academy, and a nation long identified with backwardness, superstition, and ignorance had vaulted into the modern era. Until now the role of Newton’s ideas in this astonishingly speedy intellectual development has not been scrutinized. This is the first study in any language to examine Newton’s influence in Russia. PREFACE CONTENTS Illustrations Abbreviations INTRODUCTION PART I. The Petrine Era 1. Did Peter the Great Meet Newton? 2. Flamsteed, Halley, Newton, and the "Collonel" 3. Russia's First Newtonian 4. Prince Menshikov's Exchange of Letters with Newton "Worlds within Worlds" 6. Bruce as Translator and Instrument Maker 7. Newton and the Naval Academy PART II. NEWTON AND THE ST. PETERSBURG ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 8. The Foundation of the Academy and the Death of Newton 9. The Principal Objections to the Cartesian Theory 10. Newtonian Physics at the New Academy 11. The Opening Controversy Over Gravitation 12. Bilfinger and James Jurin 13. "Il Propagatore del Newtonianismo" 14. The Shape of the Earth 15. Newton's Experiments with Light, and the Controversy Over "vis viva" 16. Electricity and Action at a Distance 17. Newton, Lomonosov, and Christian Wolff 18. Lomonosov and the Opticks 19. A New Kind of Newtonian Telescope? 20. Newton in the Catherinian Era Conclusion APPENDIX I APPENDIX II BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTE BIBLIOGRAPHY Index