Newton, The Newtonians, and the<i>Geographia Generalis Varenii</i>∗

Abstract

Abstract Editions of Geographia Generalis (1650, 1664 and 1671) by Bernhard Varen and successive Cambridge Latin editions of Varenius's work by Isaac Newton (1672 and 1681) and James Jurin (1712) are used to relate their contributions in geography to the broader scientific and intellectual ferment of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Aside from illustrating conflicts in the transition from the Cartesian to the Newtonian tradition, these successive editions and the original correspondence of their authors are used to identify the central importance of geography in the curricula of selected English universities and the substantial original contributions to geography by Isaac Newton in particular, but also by Edmond Halley and James Jurin.