Göttliche Weltökonomie, Perspektiven der Wissenschaftlichen Revolution vom 15. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert (Divine World Economy: Perspectives of the Scientific Revolution from the 15th to the 17th Century)  . German. By DieterGroh . Berlin : Suhrkamp , 2010 . 738 pages. 22.00 Euro .

Originally only a small 50‐page introduction to the book Newton Komplex: die theologischen Denkmuster der Wissenschaft des langen 18. Jahrhunderts (the Newton Complex: theological structures of reflection in science of the long 18th century) was planned. However, the product was two volumes of over 700 pages each for the introduction and the still unwritten, or at least unpublished, book itself. But this fact actually speaks in favor of the author Groh, who has dedicated himself to a very thorough method of analysis, and it also shows that the evolution of modern natural science, labeled with the term New Science by Groh and other sources, is much more complex than a quick analysis can possibly capture.

The second of the two completely self‐sufficient introductory volumes, Göttliche Weltökonomie (Divine World Economy), is dedicated to the evolution of New Science from the fifteenth century to the seventeenth century. Groh follows thoroughly the different schools of thought of that time, without getting trapped in apologetics, in order to identify the motor and reason for the evolution of New Science. He is, however, not very interested in the content of New Science itself.

The anthropology of a specific time determines the way nature is perceived and interpreted, so Groh's thesis goes. His argumentation starts with the positive anthropology during the early fifteenth century, represented by the humanists of Italian Renaissance and others, such as Nicolaus Cusanus, an anthropology that formed the image of humans as God's own likeliness. The evolution of natural science is further illustrated by the person of Nicolaus Copernicus, the scientist and theologian at the realm of scholastic and the new epoch. Groh then introduces the theology of Heinrich Bullinger, the successor of Zwingli. The Millennium theory, which is part of his theology, was highly influential and made its way to reformed circles in England and from there back to the reformed German‐speaking community. Groh postulates that the positive anthropology in combination with the Milleniarism and the notion of the accessibility of God through the book of nature (all based on Dan 14:2) was the hotbed of the evolution and prosperity of New Science. Groh shows that Francis Bacon, who was highly influential on an intellectual level in the formation of the Royal Society and other societies, in which New Science (not yet rooted in classical universities) was discussed and experiments were shared, was heavily influenced by Milleniarism.

In the course of his book, Groh does not follow this line of argumentation tightly; he is more interested in giving a general overview of the complexity of the different streams of thoughts during that time. He also indicates other lines of interpretation (even those contradictory to his own views) and reasons for them and shows the change of the availability of sources over time. This makes his book more detailed, and sometimes the reader wonders where the author intends to take him or her—for example, in the lengthy discussion of the general theology of Bullinger or in emphasizing the part of the life of Copernicus dedicated to theology and church. But those detours are worthwhile. The very thorough description of the crucial step to include mathematics in the evolution of New Science, which also had its famous opponents at the time (e.g., Bacon), as well as the argumentation that the science of the Renaissance was not just a repetition of the science of classical Greek authors, and that at the time physics and astronomy were two separate disciplines (which were themselves still intermingled with astrology and alchemy), are strong.

At the end of the book, the reader is left with a sound and convincing picture of the argumentation of the author and knows where to find further sources. Göttliche Weltökonomie is a well‐written book that abolished thoroughly the long‐beloved prejudice that New Science evolved in contrast and opposition to church and religion.