Born in a rural manor, educated in England’s grandest monastery, and then exiled to a clifftop priory, Westwyk was an intrepid crusader, inventor, and astrologer. In The Light Ages, Cambridge science historian Seb Falk takes us on a tour of medieval science through the eyes of one fourteenth-century monk, John of Westwyk. As medieval thinkers sought to understand the world around them, from the passing of the seasons to the stars in the sky, they came to develop a vibrant scientific culture. But the so-called Dark Ages also gave us the first universities, eyeglasses, and mechanical clocks. Soaring Gothic cathedrals, violent crusades, the Black Death: these are the dramatic forces that shaped the medieval era. Albans abbey, leafing through dusty manuscripts by candlelight." -Alex Orlando, Discover By the end, The Light Ages didn’t just broaden my conception of science even as I scrolled away on my Kindle, it felt like I was sitting alongside Westwyk at St. "Falk’s bubbling curiosity and strong sense of storytelling always swept me along. Named a Best Book of 2020 by The Telegraph, The Times, and BBC History MagazineĪn illuminating guide to the scientific and technological achievements of the Middle Ages through the life of a crusading astronomer-monk.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |