There is no century, perhaps, in English history that exhibits to our sight so many contrasts as does the 17th. Every age, no doubt, is a transition age, and every age exhibits change; but the 17th century may, in a very special sense, be characterized as a time of flux. It was an age of fervent religious enthusiasm, as also an age of licentiousness and indifference to religion. It was an age of gross superstition, as also an age which the foundations of modern scientific knowledge were laid. Contents: biography; skepticism; Platonism; royal society; psychical research.