A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, ‘Germanus Incredibilis’
Author | : John Edward Fletcher |
Publisher | : BRILL |
Total Pages | : 654 |
Release | : 2011-08-26 |
ISBN-10 | : 9789004216327 |
ISBN-13 | : 9004216324 |
Rating | : 4/5 (27 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit in 17th-century Rome, was an enigma. Intensely pious and a prolific author, he was also a polymath fascinated with everything from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the tiny creatures in his microscope. His correspondence with popes, princes and priests was a window into the restless energy of the period. It showed first-hand the seventeenth-century’s struggle for knowledge in astronomy, microscopy, geology, chemistry, musicology, Egyptology, horology... The list goes on. Kircher’s books reflect the mind-set of 17th-century scholars - endless curiosity and a substantial larding of naiveté: Kircher scorned alchemy as the wishful thinking of charlatans, yet believed in dragons. His life and correspondence provide a key to the transition from the Middle Ages to a new scientific age. This book, though unpublished, has been long quoted and referred to. Awaited by scholars and specialists of Kircher, it is finally available with this edition.