Atomism and Its Critics: From Democritus to Newton

This is a substantial and in-depth examination of the history of the atomic theory of matter between the time of Democritus and that of Newton. The work provides a critical account of the arguments used for and against the central theses of classical atomic theory during three time periods: Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Seventeenth Century. This study is the first to emphasis the continuity of the atomism debate and the debt owed by the seventeenth-century 'moderns' to the medieval critique of Aristotle.

"Beautifully and clearly organised...the book is a mine of information and a model of clarity."
--Professor Alan Chalmers, University of Sydney.