Draper's History of the Intellectual Development of Europe in 2 volumes is a book based on an original and challenging idea of applying the methods of physical science to history. The author has undertaken the labor of arranging the evidence offered by the intellectual history of Europe in accordance with physiological principles, so as to illustrate the orderly progress of civilization, or collected the facts furnished by other branches of science with a view of enabling us to recognize clearly the conditions under which that progress takes place. Seen thus through the medium of physiology, history presents a new aspect to humanity as people gain a more just and thorough appreciation of the thoughts and motives of men in successive ages of the world.
Contents:
On the Government of Nature by Law
Of Europe: Its Topography and Ethnology
Digression on Hindu Theology and Egyptian Civilization
Greek Age of Inquiry
The Greek Age of Faith
The Greek Age of Reason
The Greek Age of Intellectual Decrepitude
Digression on the History and Philosophical Influences of Rome
The European Age of Inquiry
The European Age of Faith
The Age of Faith in the West
Digression on the Passage of the Arabians to Their Age of Reason
The Age of Faith in the West. The Three Attacks: Northern or Moral; Western or Intellectual; Eastern or Military
Approach of the Age of Reason in Europe
Digression on the Condition of England at the End of the Age of Faith
The European Age of Reason
The Union of Science and Industry
Conclusion – The Future of Europe

John William Draper (1811-1882) was an English-born American scientist, philosopher, physician, chemist, historian and photographer. He is credited with producing the first clear photograph of a female face (1839-40) and the first detailed photograph of the moon in 1840. He was also the first president of the American Chemical Society (1876-77) and a founder of the New York University School of Medicine. His contributions to the discipline of history are The History of the Intellectual Development of Europe (1862), a History of the American Civil War (1867-1870), and a History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874).