This book recounts a few ingenious attempts to derive physical theories by reason only, beginning with Descartes' geometric construction of the world, and finishing with recent derivations of quantum mechanics from natural axioms.

• 1: Rationalism in the history of mechanics


• 2: The necessity of classical mechanics


• 3: From mechanical reduction to general principles


• 4: Geometry


• 5: Spacetime


• 6: Numbers and math


• 7: Classical field theories


• 8: Quantum mechanics


• 9: Necessity, theories, and modules

Olivier Darrigol studied physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the history and philosophy of physics at the Sorbonne and at UC-Berkeley's Office for History of Science and Technology (OHST). He is the author of several books on the history of quantum physics, electrodynamics, hydrodynamics, and optics. He is currently a member of the SPHere research team at CNRS/Paris 7, and a Research Associate at UC-Berkeley's OHST.