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Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
William Eamon
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Description for Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
Paperback. By explaining how to sire multicolored horses, produce nuts without shells, and create an egg the size of a human head, this title conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously. Num Pages: 512 pages, 12 halftones. 3 tables. BIC Classification: JFCX; PDA; PDX. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 156 x 237 x 31. Weight in Grams: 742.
By explaining how to sire multicolored horses, produce nuts without shells, and create an egg the size of a human head, Giambattista Della Porta's Natural Magic (1559) conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously. Yet, according to William Eamon, it is in the "how-to" books written by medieval alchemists, magicians, and artisans that modern science has its roots. These compilations of recipes on everything from parlor tricks through medical remedies to wool-dyeing fascinated medieval intellectuals because they promised access to esoteric "secrets of nature." In closely examining ... Read more
By explaining how to sire multicolored horses, produce nuts without shells, and create an egg the size of a human head, Giambattista Della Porta's Natural Magic (1559) conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously. Yet, according to William Eamon, it is in the "how-to" books written by medieval alchemists, magicians, and artisans that modern science has its roots. These compilations of recipes on everything from parlor tricks through medical remedies to wool-dyeing fascinated medieval intellectuals because they promised access to esoteric "secrets of nature." In closely examining ... Read more
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
1996
Publisher
Princeton University Press United States
Number of pages
510
Condition
New
Number of Pages
512
Place of Publication
New Jersey, United States
ISBN
9780691026022
SKU
V9780691026022
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1
About William Eamon
William Eamon is Professor of History at New Mexico State University.
Reviews for Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture
Winner of the 1994 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in History, Association of American Publishers "Eamon gives a rich and lively account of authors and writings that were always unacademic, unscrupulous, unprofessional, turbulent, and unsettled: that is to say, an account of the popular or seamy side of medicine and natural knowledge in medieval and early modern times... A book ... Read more