The correspondence of John Wallis. Vol. III (October 1668--1671). Edited by Philip Beeley and Christoph J. Scriba (Q2893683)

This third volume of the edition of the complete correspondence of John Wallis (1616--1703) covers the three years October 1668--1671. It contains 254 letters to and from 32 correspondents of Wallis among them being Henry Oldenburg (121 existing or identified letters), the secretary of the Royal Society, Johannes Hevelius, Robert Boyle, Thomas Hobbes etc. The manuscripts of hundred letters were missing, one letter was in private possession so that only 153 English or Latin written letters could be published, more than thirty-five for the first time. The very useful introduction gives a survey of the fourteen main topics of these letters: the conflict between Wallis and Hobbes, the conflict between Gregory and Huygens, the debate on the theory of tides, Wallis's correspondence with Dulaurens, Huygens, and Hevelius, with Berthet and Sluse, the heritage of Pierre de Fermat, the correspondence with Borelli, Leibniz and the Royal Society, the publication of Wallis's Mechanica, the scientific papers of Horrox and Merry, the ceremonial opening of the Sheldonian theatre, foreign visitors to Oxford, cryptoanalysis and the fate of Clarendon. The appendix consists of short biographies of the 32 correspondents, a list of the manuscripts, a comprehensive bibliography, a list of the letters, an index enumerating persons and subjects. It would be helpful for the reader if the next volumes would add the numbers of those pages where a certain title is mentioned. Some misprints do not diminish the high quality of this edition: for example on page 105, line -3 read `nonnumquam', p. 587 line -5 read 1661 instead of 1561, p. 589 line -4 read `usu' instead of usus, p. 596 item 6: the correct title reads `Pathologiae cerebri specimen' etc.NEWLINENEWLINEFor Volumes I and II see [Zbl 1029.01022; Zbl 1082.01019].