Meeting Readers. Promoting the Use of English in Early Modern Utilitarian and Scientific Books (1500-1699)

Abstract

The recognition of the leading role of English as the language of science would not have been possible without the concerted efforts of men and women of letters and science whopromoted its use, other than as conversational discourse, during the Modern period. In this paper, we concentrate on attitudes towards the use of English in this time focusing on material from the period. Primary sources include books from different scientific domains as well as utilitarian prose. One aspect which is relevant to the use of English for science and specialised uses concerns obvious shifts in language style from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century. Some scholars claim that English for scientific use underwent a drastic change in style from the Elizabethan to the Jacobean period. This appears to involve a plainer style at the expense of the interpersonal in order to reduce subjectivity. We argue, however, that this does not seem to be the case in the texts selected for analysis. We think that, despite obvious changes in style to reduce superfluous verbosity, interpersonal strategiesare still necessarily used. Our ultimate objective is to demonstrate the legitimacy of English to convey scientific thought as demonstrated by contemporary writers and translators.