The second volume of this outstanding work lives up to the standard set by the first volume, which is another way of saying it is superb. This volume lists twenty-five contributors. In many books of multiple authorship the different contributions vary greatly in quality, and the work in toto suffers from a choppy style of writing, the exposition clear in places and again murky. The different contributions here are well balanced, the literary style smooth and fluid. The work is both informative and interesting.
This volume covers the years from 1450 to 1800; the chapters are devoted to mathematics, astronomy, physics, geology, biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, and medicine and show the progress of medicine from the period of the Renaissance to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The anatomical discoveries of Vesalius and Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood are clearly and impartially set forth. Delauney's statement that