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Abstract
The transvaluation whereby work replaced leisure as the center of living emerged principally from the Protestant Reformation. Besides religion, the experimental science of Francis Bacon also played an integral role in the changing relationship between work and leisure. The Puritan Rebellion and England's scientific revolution, both of which occurred together in the middle of the 17th century, stressed themes that favored work while devaluing Aristotle's conception of leisure. Science in 17th‐century England, however, was mainly an amateur activity pursued by gentlemen during their leisure. Their leisured condition was the result of class privilege based on Aristotelianism. This study describes how Aristotle's idea of leisure was undermined by Puritan and Baconian ideals embedded in the belief systems of Protestant English gentlemen who conducted experimental science in their leisure. It further reveals that play, although obscured by a labor ethic, was an important factor in their scientific endeavors.