A01=William Eamon
Albertus Magnus
Analogy
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Aristotle
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Author_William Eamon
Cambridge University Press
Category=JBCC9
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Charlatan
Counter-Reformation
Dyeing
Early modern Europe
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Experiment
Explanation
Forbidden knowledge
Giambattista della Porta
God
Handbook
Herbal
Hermetica
Hermeticism
Ideology
Ingredient
Jesuati
Literacy
Literature
Magia Naturalis
Matter of fact
Metallurgy
Metaphor
Natural magic
Natural philosophy
Occult
Occult science
Pamphlet
Paracelsus
Pharmacopoeia
Phenomenon
Philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy of science
Physician
Physiognomy
Polemic
Popular culture
Printing
Printing press
Publication
Publishing
Religion
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Science
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Scientific method
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Secularization
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The Other Hand
The Philosopher
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Product details
- ISBN 9780691026022
- Weight: 680g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 02 Jun 1996
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
William Eamon is Professor of History at New Mexico State University.
