Description
Book SynopsisBy explaining how to sire multicolored horses, produce nuts without shells, and create an egg the size of a human head, this title conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 1994 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in History, Association of American Publishers "Eamon gives a rich and lively account of authors and writings that were always unacademic, unscrupulous, unprofessional, turbulent, and unsettled: that is to say, an account of the popular or seamy side of medicine and natural knowledge in medieval and early modern times... A book of many unusual topics... Eamon is very learned and writes eloquently."--A. Rupert Hall, Nature "Eamon ... provide[s] plenty of material for thought in this multifaceted volume."--Charles Burnett, The New York Times Book Review "Unusually well crafted... Eamon has many valuable things to say about science as a sacrament."--John North, The Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and TablesAcknowledgmentsNotes on Conventions and UsageIntroduction: Printing, Popular Culture, and the Scientific Revolution3Pt. 1The Literature of Secrets131The Literature of Secrets in the Middle Ages152Knowledge and Power38Pt. 2The Secrets of Nature in the Age of Printing913Arcana Disclosed934The Professors of Secrets and Their Books1345Leonardo Fioravanti, Vendor of Secrets1686Natural Magic and the Secrets of Nature1947The Secrets of Nature in Popular Culture234Pt. 3The "New Philosophy"2678Science as a Venatio2699The Virtuosi and the Secrets of Nature30110From the Secrets of Nature to Public Knowledge319Conclusion351Appendix: Secreti Italiani: Italian Booklets of Secrets, ca. 1520-1643361Abbreviations367Notes369Bibliography431Index481
