1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910827696603321

Autore

Thomson Keith Stewart

Titolo

Jefferson's shadow : the story of his science / / Keith Thomson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2012

ISBN

1-283-74230-6

0-300-18740-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (288 p.)

Disciplina

973.4/6092

B

Soggetti

Science - History - 18th century

Science - History - 19th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

pt. 1. The young Jefferson -- pt. 2. Natural science -- pt. 3. They, the people -- pt. 4. Useful knowledge -- pt. 5. The national stage -- pt. 6. Philosophical issues.

Sommario/riassunto

In the voluminous literature on Thomas Jefferson, little has been written about his passionate interest in science. This new and original study of Jefferson presents him as a consummate intellectual whose view of science was central to both his public and his private life. Keith Thomson reintroduces us in this remarkable book to Jefferson's eighteenth-century world and reveals the extent to which Jefferson used science, thought about it, and contributed to it, becoming in his time a leading American scientific intellectual.With a storyteller's gift, Thomson shows us a new side of Jefferson. He answers an intriguing series of questions-How was Jefferson's view of the sciences reflected in his political philosophy and his vision of America's future? How did science intersect with his religion? Did he make any original contributions to scientific knowledge?-and illuminates the particulars of Jefferson's scientific endeavors. Thomson discusses Jefferson's theories that have withstood the test of time, his interest in the practical applications of science to societal problems, his leadership in the use of scientific methods in agriculture, and his contributions toward launching at least four sciences in America: geography,



paleontology, climatology, and scientific archaeology. A set of delightful illustrations, including some of Jefferson's own sketches and inventions, completes this impressively researched book.