List of Figures and Tables ..................................... ix
Preface ........................................................ xi
Introduction: Can Nature Be Controlled? ......................... 1
PART I. Autonomous Nature ...................................... 19
1 Greco-Roman Concepts of Nature .............................. 21
2 Christianity and Nature ..................................... 42
3 Nature Personified: Renaissance Ideas of Nature ............. 63
PART II. Controlling Nature .................................... 79
4 Vexing Nature: Francis Bacon and the Origins
of Experimentation .......................................... 81
5 Natural Law: Spinoza on Natura naturans and Natura
naturata ................................................... 101
6 Laws of Nature: Leibniz and Newton ......................... 125
Epilogue: Rambunctious Nature in the Twenty-First Century ..... 149
Bibliography .................................................. 169
Index ......................................................... 183
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