Nominalism and constructivism in seventeenth-century mathematical philosophy / David Sepkoski.

First published in 2007. First issued in Paperback in 2012.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: mathematization and the language of nature -- Realists and nominalists : language and mathematics before the scientific revolution -- Ontology recapitulates epistemology : Gassendi, epicurean atomism, and nominalism -- British empiricism, nominalism, and constructivism -- Three mathematicians : constructivist epistemology and the new mathematical methods -- Conclusion: mathematization and the nature of language.

This book seeks the basis for the adoption of mathematics as the primary mode of discourse for describing natural events by a large segment of the philosophical community in the 17th century.