Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe
William R. Newman, Anthony Grafton
In recent years scholars have begun to acknowledge that the occult sciences were not marginal enterprises but an integral part of the worldview of many of our ancestors. Astrology was one of the many intellectual tools--along with what we consider to be the superior tools of social and political analysis--that Renaissance thinkers used to attack practical and intellectual problems. It was a coherent body of practices, strongly supported by social institutions. And alchemy was not viewed primarily as a spiritual pursuit, an idea popularized by nineteenth-century occultists, but as a part of natural philosophy. It was often compared to medicine.Many Renaissance writers suggested links between astrology and alchemy that went beyond the use of astrological charts to determine the best time to attempt alchemical operations. Secrets of Nature shows the many ways in which astrology (a form of divination) and alchemy (an artisanal pursuit concerned with the technologies of minerals and metals) diverge as well as intersect. Overall, it shows how an appreciation of the role of the occult opens up new ways of understanding the past. Topics include the career of Renaissance astrologer Girolamo Cardano and his work on medical astrology, the astrological thinking of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, the history of the Rosicrucians and the influence of John Dee, the work of medical alchemist Simon Forman, and an extended critique of the existing historiography of alchemy.
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Contents
The Problematic Status of Astrology and Alchemy
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1 |
Aspects of Cardanos Astrology
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39 |
Girolamo Cardano and Medical
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69 |
Astrological Motifs in the Dedicatory Letters
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133 |
Legacies of Johannes Trithemius
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173 |
The Rosicrucian Hoax in France 162324
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235 |
Simon Formans Alchemical Medicine
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345 |
Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy
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385 |
Contributors
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433 |
Other editions - View all
Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe William R. Newman No preview available - 2006 |
Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe William R. Newman,Anthony Grafton No preview available - 2001 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam alchemists alchemy Ashm Ashmole Astronomia Nova astronomy Baillet cabala cako Cambridge Cardano celestial century Chaume Chaume's chemistry Chorier Cimelia Rhodostaurotica commentary Consideratio copy critical days Croix dedicatory letter Dee's Monas Descartes disease divine Doctrine curieuse early modern earth edition Effroyables Pactions elements Eliade Elias Ashmole Étienne example Fama Fraternitatis Forman France François Freres Gabella Gabriel Naudé Galen Galileo Garasse geniture Gilly Girolamo Cardano Haslmayr History horoscope Ibid interpretation John Dee Jung Jupiter Kepler Latin London Luna magic manuscript medical astrology medicine mercury Mersenne Monas hieroglyphica moon natural Newman occult Opera Paracelsian Paracelsus Paris passage philosophers Pierre planets posters Propaedeumata pseudo-Geber Ptolemy published qu'il quae quam quod Renaissance Rose-Croix Rose-Cross Rosicrucian Rudolf's Science secret Sidereus Nuncius spiritual stars stone sunt Tabula Tetrabiblos Théophile Théophile de Viau things tion translation treatise Trithemius Trithemius's University Press