Dijksterhuis E.J. Simon Stevin: Science in the Netherlands around 1600

Martinus Nijhoff, 1970. — 145 p.The renovation of the arts and sciences by the Renaissance has been especially glorious in Italy and the Netherlands. Among the outstanding scholars of that period Simon Stevin, born at Bruges and living at Leiden, is one of the most interesting. Although little is known about his life, his marked personality speaks clearly to us through his writings. He wrote on Mathematics, Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Astronomy, Navigation and technical and military matters; he introduced decimal fractions and measures; he prepared the theorem of the parallelogram of forces; he established fundamental laws in hydrostatics; he was one of the early defenders of the Copernican system and he explained loxodromic sailing, improved the windmills, proposed equal temperament in music and improved the construction of fortifications. He always combined purely theoretical investigations with their practical applications. A survey of his work conveys at the same time a vivid picture of the exact sciences about 1600. The author, the late E. J. Dijksterhuis (1892-1965), was a professor of history of science at the universities of Utrecht and Leyden. He wrote books on Euclid and on Archimedes' mathematics and mechanics, and he became widely known outside the circle of historians of science by his extensive study on "The Mechanization of the World Picture" (1950; engl. transl. 1961). Of his standard work on Simon Stevin (written in the Dutch language), the present book is a shortened version in English, adapted to the educated, non-specialist reader.Stevin’s Life.
Stevin’s Mathematics.
Mechanics.
Hydrostatics.
Astronomy.
Navigation.
Technology.
Military Science.
Architecture.
Double-Entry Book-Keeping.
Music.
Civic Matters.
Stevin and the Dutch Language.
Stevin’s Personality.
Stevin’s Works.