"A ambitious work that deserves to become a classic in this subject."—Nature
 
"A superb contribution to the history of science."—American Scientist
 
"A work of great, indeed of delightful, learning. It results from years spent combing the archives, from wide and imaginative reading in the printed sources, and from a remarkable effort to categorize and organize a widely scattered literature of interpretation. . . . Heilbron displays a superb sensitivity to historical context in the first and most original section of the book. Here he focuses on 'Early Modern Physics and Its Cultivators.'. . . Heilbron succeeds in the most difficult and urgent task—bringing the history of science to life as a part of history."—American Historical Review
 
"Heilbron . . . writes with lucidity and more wit than one might expect under such a title. . . . This study is careful, and it overthrows many existing generalizations about early modern physics."—Choice
 
"Unquestionably a major contribution to scholarship, a landmark in the historiography of early modern science. . . . Heilbron's penetrating study provides a new perspective on early modern physics."—History of Science