{"product_id":"squaring-the-circle-douglas-m-jesseph-9780226398990","title":"Squaring the Circle: The War Between Hobbes and Wallis","description":"In 1655, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes claimed he had solved the centuries-old problem of \"squaring of the circle\" (constructing a square equal in area to a given circle). With a scathing rebuttal to Hobbes's claims, the mathematician John Wallis began one of the longest and most intense intellectual disputes of all time. \u003ci\u003eSquaring the Circle\u003c\/i\u003e is a detailed account of this controversy, from the core mathematics to the broader philosophical, political, and religious issues at stake. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHobbes believed that by recasting geometry in a materialist mold, he could solve any geometric problem and thereby demonstrate the power of his materialist metaphysics. Wallis, a prominent Presbyterian divine as well as an eminent mathematician, refuted Hobbes's geometry as a means of discrediting his philosophy, which Wallis saw as a dangerous mix of atheism and pernicious political theory. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHobbes and Wallis's \"battle of the books\" illuminates the intimate relationship between science and crucial seventeenth-century debates over the limits of sovereign power and the existence of God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Douglas M. Jesseph\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226398994\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226398990\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/01\/2000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 433\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.72lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.32w x 1.11d","brand":"Douglas M. Jesseph","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48447601115391,"sku":"9780226398990","price":144.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_375f82cd-d3ba-4320-b4bb-3bf1983eeca7.jpg?v=1777233778","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/squaring-the-circle-douglas-m-jesseph-9780226398990","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}