"In Ingenious Pursuits, Lisa Jardine documents the forces for change which laid the foundations of modern thought, focusing on some of its important scientific components: precise time measurement, enhanced astronomical observation, plant breeding, technological advances in navigation, chemical substance analysis, the mathematics of naturally occurring curves.
With each successive wave of practical innovations, the inquiring minds of the next generation were enabled to identify the key problems on which to focus thier attention. Jardine stresses that the discoveries they made grew out of the preoccupations and pressures of an active and engaged everyday life."--BOOK JACKET.