Science in the Liminal Space

A friend of my recently gave me this book, The Common Sense of Science by J. Brownoski.  It is a compact recitation of the history of ideas from the last few centuries and quite powerful.  A favorite quote of mine (p. 43):

As a result, the real science of the eighteenth century was practised by social oddities: by eccentrics like the Cavendish or the Oxford antiquaries, by Unitarians and Quakers from the midlands, and by untaught mechanics like James Brindley who designed the whole system of English waterways, but never leared to spell “navigation.”