Science and the Secrets of Nature Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture / William Eamon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eamon, William.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historia.

Ciencia.

Sociología de la ciencia.

Ciencia medieval.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (512 pages)

Edition:

3rd ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J : Princeton University Press, 1996.

Summary:

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 this rich but little-known source of literature, Eamon reveals that printing technology and popular culture had as great, if not stronger, an impact on early modern science as did the traditional academic disciplines.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES ON CONVENTIONS AND USAGE

INTRODUCTION Printing, Popular Culture, and the Scientific Revolution

PART ONE: THE LITERATURE OF SECRETS

ONE The Literature of Secrets in the Middle Ages

TWO Knowledge and Power

PART TWO: THE SECRETS OF NATURE IN THE AGE OF PRINTING

THREE Arcana Disclosed

FOUR The Professors of Secrets and Their Books

FIVE Leonardo Fioravanti, Vendor of Secrets

SIX Natural Magic and the Secrets of Nature

SEVEN The Secrets of Nature in Popular Culture

PART THREE: THE "NEW PHILOSOPHY"

EIGHT Science as a Venatio

NINE The Virtuosi and the Secrets of Nature

TEN From the Secrets of Nature to Public Knowledge

Conclusion

Appendix Secreti Italiani: Italian Booklets of Secrets, ca. 1520-1643

ABBREVIATIONS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691214610

0691214611

OCLC:

1273307080