This book covers the history of kinematics from the Greeks to the 20th century. It shows that the subject has its roots in geometry, mechanics and mechanical engineering and how it became in the 19th century a coherent field of research, for which Ampère coined the name kinematics. The story starts with the important Greek tradition of solving construction problems by means of kinematically defined curves and the use of kinematical models in Greek astronomy. As a result in 17th century mathematics motion played a crucial role as well, and the book pays ample attention to it. It is also discussed how the concept of instantaneous velocity, unknown to the Greeks, etc was introduced in the late Middle Ages and how in the 18th century, when classical mechanics was formed, kinematical theorems concerning the distribution of velocity in a solid body moving in space were proved. The book shows that in the 19th century, against the background of the industrial revolution, the theory of machines and thus the kinematics of mechanisms received a great deal of attention. In the final analysis, this led to the birth of the discipline.

How did early modern philosophy of space shape the modern concept of political universalism? In this book, Pablo Bustinduy persuasively argues that political universalism emerged from both the developments of Newtonian science and the formulation of the modern philosophy of the State. In the metaphysics of an open, empty, abstract and absolute space, Bustinduy suggests, the universalist project of modern politics found its logical model and foundation. There, the anxiety of a dislocated world was overcome, and the ontology of modern physics found a specific political expression that, despite being besieged by multiple crises, still animates our political imagination. By offering a political reading of early modern philosophy of space, Space and Political Universalism in Early Modern Physics and Philosophy reveals the connections between the logical development of early modern science, the contemporary elaborations of the philosophy of the State, and the historical articulations of the Westphalian system, early capitalist social formations, and the European colonial project. In doing so, it offers a powerful reflection on how we might detach democracy from the 'perilous metaphysics' of infinite space that has engendered political violence and domination, positing space as an emptiness that prevents the closure of the political itself.

Novel conceptual analysis, fresh historical perspectives, and concrete physical examples illuminate one of the most thought-provoking topics in physics.