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.
發表於2024-12-23
Science and the Secrets of Nature 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: 科學史 自然魔法 科技史 早期現代 EarlyModern STS EarlyModernEurope 濛田
ambitious and provocative; an important piece of scholarship in the 1990s.
評分ambitious and provocative; an important piece of scholarship in the 1990s.
評分ambitious and provocative; an important piece of scholarship in the 1990s.
評分ambitious and provocative; an important piece of scholarship in the 1990s.
評分ambitious and provocative; an important piece of scholarship in the 1990s.
Science and the Secrets of Nature 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載