Magnifico libro del divulgador Collingwood
Si el libro debía ser criticado, sería por ser demasiado corto. Collingwood hace lector un servicio al proporcionar la historia de la evolución del pensamiento humano a través de dos mil quinientos años en menos de 200 páginas. ( )

In The Idea of Nature Collingwood tells us about the development of Natural Science from its infancy to the form it takes more or less today. Progress was concentrated in three main eras, the Classical, Renaissance, and Modernity.
The book covers both scientific and philosophic contributions, and their impact on one another. It is interesting to realise how little has changed fundamentally, once the superstitions of the Greek view have been banished, and how much of it has been vindicated - notably the mathematical world view of Pythagoras which accords well with modern chemistry (he is also believed to have established that the earth is a sphere), Plato, whose Forms are largely comparable to those used by the modern philosopher Whitehead and compatible with modern mathematics, and Aristotle, whose teleological view of organic life compares favourably with the way evolution forms animals to fit niches, and genetics and its role in embryology. Of course, a lot of subtle changes have occurred, and many large ones, but in spirit the modern Idea of Nature is one conceived a long time ago.
Things changed a lot in the Renaissance, but they have also changed since then. Things went from being thought of as organic in classical times, to being mechanical in the renaissance, but modern science has shifted away from the mechanical view with Quantum theory, which will change how Nature is conceived in the future, in addition to the way it has changed our view since its discovery.
This book is very interesting to read from the viewpoint of the scientist and of the philosopher, also I imagine from that of the classicist or historian. What could fill an encyclopaedia is condensed into fairly terse and understandable book, remarkably short and easy to read, while at the same time covering the main contributions, the big discoveries, and enough historical background to make it interesting.
If the book had to be criticised, it would be for being too short. However, verbosity is far easier to let reign free than it is to control, and Collingwood does the reader a service by providing this history of the evolution of human thought through two and a half thousand years in under two hundred pages. ( )

The Idea of Nature (Galaxy Books) by Robin George Collingwood (1960) ( )