Science and the Secrets of Nature

"Unusually well crafted. . . . Eamon has many valuable things to say about science as a sacrament."---John North, The Times Literary Supplement

Autorentext
William Eamon is Professor of History at New Mexico State University.

Klappentext
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.

Inhalt
List of Illustrations and Tables Pt. 1The Literature of Secrets 1The Literature of Secrets in the Middle Ages 2Knowledge and Power Pt. 2The Secrets of Nature in the Age of Printing 3Arcana Disclosed 4The Professors of Secrets and Their Books 5Leonardo Fioravanti, Vendor of Secrets 6Natural Magic and the Secrets of Nature 7The Secrets of Nature in Popular Culture Pt. 3The "New Philosophy" 8Science as a Venatio 9The Virtuosi and the Secrets of Nature 10From the Secrets of Nature to Public Knowledge Conclusion Appendix: Secreti Italiani: Italian Booklets of Secrets, ca. 1520-1643 Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

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