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Scaliger, Definition of Chronology > 
Joseph Justus Scaliger was considered to be the foremost scholar in sixteenth-century Europe, referred to as "the light of the world", "the sea of sciences" and similar epithets, and it is to him that we owe a "modern" definition of chronology, with the publication of "De Emendatione Temporum" in 1583 and the "Thesaurus Temporum" in 1606. His work, and the work of a number of imitators, like the Jesuit Dionysius Petavius (1583-1652), essentially defined the "official" chronology of world events for centuries to come. The real importance of Scaliger's work to chronology, however, resides not so much in his results but in the quality of his work, his introduction of new methods such as the Julian Period and his insistence upon a rigorous criticism of sources, and his redefinition of chronology itself. Chronologers before Scaliger viewed the field from a religious perspective, seeking a moral order in the past. Chronology was "pedagogical in intent and elementary in execution", as Grafton would have it.
No less a figure than Isaac Newton (1642-1727) also took an active interest in the field, publishing "The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended", a substantial monograph disputing several key conclusions in Scaliger's work. Scaliger's conclusions were also disputed by several of his contemporaries, including Arcilla, a professor at Salamanca University, and Hardouin, director of the French Royal Library, among many others.
The work of Scaliger and his imitators of the seventeenth century, however, represents a high-water mark for the field of chronology for several centuries thereafter. The reasons are varied and instructive.
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