CHAPTER V 



THE NEW SCIENCE AND PROSE 



In the work of Sir Francis Bacon "the English language first 

 became the vehicle for scientific expression". His predecessors, 

 "whether in science or philosophy, used the common language of 

 learned men", which was of course Latin. 1 But Bacon's influence 

 was not immediately felt; the old ornate style with its "involved 

 and artificial intricacies and copious classical quotations ' ' continued 

 in Burton, Browne, Milton, Fuller, Taylor, and others. Even in 

 the Restoration period the English scientific writers did not have 

 full confidence in their mother tongue ; Willughby, Ray, Grew and 

 Sydenham used Latin for their serious work; Newton's Principles 

 first appeared in the same language, as did Burnet's Sacred Theory. 

 A new simplicity and directness, however, may be found in Wilkins's 

 New World in the Moon (1638) and later in "Walton's Complete 

 Angler (1655). This new prose art, "the clear and naked style 

 approaching mathematical plainness", 2 was caught up by certain 

 of the virtuosi and became the ideal of the Royal Society. With 

 this model before them the new philosophers made a spirited effort 

 to chronicle the new observations of science in the best literary 

 form of the age. 3 This effort lasted through the last forty years 

 of the seventeenth century, and then gave way to a satiric ex 

 ploitation by the group of brilliant Queen Anne wits. During 

 these early years of the eighteenth century natural science devel 

 oped its own direct, non-literary exposition and found only inci 

 dental representation in literary prose. 



Three distinct phases, therefore, are to be found in the study 

 of the new science and the prose of this period. First, there is 

 an early effort to give an enthusiastic literary expression, begin 

 ning with Wilkins and ceasing practically with the end of the 

 century ; secondly, there is a satiric exploitation of the new interest 

 reaching from John Eachard, the schoolmaster, to Ward, the Lon 

 don Spy; thirdly, there is an incidental representation in the 

 philosophers, and a direct, non-literary exposition from the scien 

 tists themselves. 



1 The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. IV, p. 308. 

 2 Sprat, Thomas, History of the Royal Society, p. 113. 

 Elton, Oliver, The Augustan Ages, p. 419. 



