This book is the first English translation of a German classic in the social-historical historiography of science in the early modern period. It presents a reconstruction of the 'Scientific Revolution' based on a critical historical materialism. It argues that the dominant ideas, images, and philosophies of nature of that time were conditioned by humans' practical and technological relationship with nature, and that they changed in accordance with the historical development of early capitalist society. Against economic reductionism, Lefèvre stresses the interdependence of material conditions of life and theories of nature on the basis of a critical study of sources and historical contexts. The book makes available an important study with related texts and contributes to the current debates on the intersection of historical and political epistemology.

The series editors provide a conceptual and contextual introduction, including information on the political-epistemological background of the book first published in 1978.