This book argues that we can only understand transformations of nature studies in the Scientific Revolution if we take seriously the interaction between practitioners (those who know by doing) and scholars (those who know by thinking). These are not in opposition, however. Theory and practice are end points on a continuum, with some participants interested only in the practical, others only in the theoretical, and most in the murky intellectual and material world in between. It is this borderland where influence, appropriation, and collaboration have the potential to lead to new methods, new subjects of enquiry, and new social structures of natural philosophy and science. The case for connection between theory and practice can be most persuasively drawn in the area of mathematics, which is the focus of this book. Practical mathematics was a growing field in early modern Europe and these essays are organised into three parts which contribute to the debate about the role of mathematical practice in the Scientific Revolution. First, they demonstrate the variability of the identity of practical mathematicians, and of the practices involved in their activities in early modern Europe. Second, readers are invited to consider what practical mathematics looked like and that although practical mathematical knowledge was transmitted and circulated in a wide variety of ways, participants were able to recognize them all as practical mathematics. Third, the authors show how differences and nuances in practical mathematics typically depended on the different contexts in which it was practiced: social, cultural, political, and economic particularities matter. Historians of science, especially those interested in the Scientific Revolution period and the history of mathematics will find this book and its ground-breaking approach of particular interest.

Constraint on Trial examines the life and thought of Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert (1522-1990). The self-made Coornhert was a notary, secretary, artist, poet, playwright, translator, theologian, but most of all, he was an intrepid controversialist, "born to contradict", indefatigable in his critique of the public church and sects. His main concern in polemics and disputations was the defense of freedom of conscience and advocacy of toleration. Coornhert's individualism made him eschew any restrictions on personal religious choice. His tolerationist writings, especially Synod on the Freedom of Conscience (1582) and Trial of the Killing of Heretics(1590), were rooted in his spiritualist belief system. He found inspiration in other protagonists of religious freedom, such as Sebastian Franck and Castellio, but his ideas were uniquely Coornhertian. He possessed an unrelenting drive to combat constraint, and regarded himself as "God's battering ram, meant to break down the prison of men's conscience".

George Williams' monumental The Radical Reformation has been an essential reference work for historians of early modern Europe, narrating in rich, interpretative detail the interconnected stories of radical groups operating at the margins of the mainline Reformation. In its scope—spanning all of Europe from Spain to Poland, from Denmark to Italy—and its erudition, The Radical Reformation is without peer. Now in paperback format, Williams' magnum opus should be considered for any university-level course on the Reformation.

Each number contains a List of medievalists and their publications, and a List of doctoral dissertations. Nos. 6-10 include also the report of the academy.