A Subjective Canon of Natural Philosophy

On this page you can find an overview of what some members of the RCNP regard as some of the finest works in the history of natural philosophy. Bear in mind that the very notion of a canon is controversial and that we undoubtedly make many omissions. If you find any, let us know about your favourite work of Natural Philosophy by sending an email to rcnp@ru.nl.

Ancient

55 BC (approx.): Lucretius, De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things). A beautiful and stunningly sharp-minded Latin didactic poem in the Epicurean tradition, containing amongst others some kind of proto-theory of evolution, an atomistic worldview in which all things come about by chance and a vision of infinite worlds within worlds.

Medieval

Modern

1687: Isaac Newton, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). Needs no explanation.

1824: Sadi Carnot, Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu et sur les Machines Propres à Développer cette Puissance (Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and on Machines Fitted to Develop that Power). Started thermodynamics, the most important branch of physics.

1932: John von Neumann, Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics). The introduction of the functional analysis we all know and love into quantum theory. Possibly the greatest work of mathematical physics of all time.

Contemporary

2017: Klaas Landsman, Foundations of Quantum Theory.

2021: Klaas Landsman, Foundations of General Relativity.

2023 - : see publications of the RCNP.