"Funkenstein's powerful essay belongs to that genre of intellectual history which has addressed itself to... the metaphysical foundations of modern science. As such, it is almost exclusively concerned with affinities and tensions between ideas. And traced they are with consummate skill... Liberation from naive conceptions of historical continuity gives Funkenstein leave to concentrate on a finely nuanced exegesis of those philosophers who fall within his purview. The result is a work of discernment and distinction."--J. H. Brooke, The Times Higher Education Supplement