Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything [Paperback]

Paula Findlen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0415940168 | ISBN-13: 978-0415940160 | Edition: 1st ed

Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) -- German Jesuit, occultist, polymath - was one of most curious figures in the history of science. He dabbled in all the mysteries of his time: the heavenly bodies, sound amplification, museology, botany, Asian languages, the pyramids of Egypt -- almost anything incompletely understood. Kircher coined the term electromagnetism, printed Sanskrit for the first time in a Western book, and built a famous museum collection. His wild, beautifully illustrated books are sometimes visionary, frequently wrong, and yet compelling documents in the history of ideas. They are being rediscovered in our own time. This volume contains new essays on Kircher and his world by leading historians and historians of science, including Stephen Jay Gould, Ingrid Rowland, Anthony Grafton, Daniel Stoltzenberg, Paula Findlen, and Barbara Stafford.-

Editorial Reviews

Review

The collection succeeds in its expressed goal of charting some of the paths through Kircher's world.
–Darin Hayton, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, Renasissance Quarterly

About the Author

Paula Findlen is Ubaldo Pierotti Professor of Italian History and Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program at Stanford University. She is the author of Possessing Nature and coeditor of Merchants and Marvels: Commerce, Science and Art in Early Modern Europe, published by Routledge.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1st ed edition (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415940168
• ISBN-13: 978-0415940160
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #738,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Edited Volume April 29, 2005

By Christopher I. Lehrich

Format:Paperback

Athanasius Kircher hasn't been studied in a terribly coherent way, in general. He was a 17th-century Jesuit who studied everything, collected everything, and at times seemed to know everything. Perhaps most famously, he formulated translations for hieroglyphic inscriptions on Egyptian monuments and such; unfortunately, without the Rosetta Stone and Champollion, he was dead wrong about nearly all of this. Nevertheless he was a fascinating figure situated at a major crossroads of Baroque intellectual culture.

The negative about this volume is the usual one: because it is an edited volume, there still isn't any coherent argument made, nor any agreement. Indeed, it seems that the authors duck and weave around a number of major issues, as though they think others in the book will take them up. But since there is so little really serious scholarship readily available, this is an important addition to the little library.

I can't really say that there are certain "shining stars" in the volume. All the essays have strengths and weaknesses; it really depends what you're interested in. That may seem like a cop-out, but if you know something about Kircher, you can see why it comes up: he was interested in everything, after all, and generally published on it as well. Consequently you might be intrested in Egypt and find several essays interesting, and then think the essays on magnetism and biological wonders and Chinese very boring indeed. But what if you care mostly about Kircher's important contributions (often via Gaspar Schott) to the study of magnetism, and care nothing about linguistics? And so on.

Fortunately, the volume is a relatively inexpensive paperback, so there's no reason not to buy it and dip in. When Daniel Stolzenberg's book comes out, we'll maybe have a solid foundation to work from as well. Now if only we could get some decent editions of Kircher's actual work in translation....

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Be careful February 5, 2007

By Mfunctor

Format:Paperback

I just wanted to say that almost all of the illustrations in this book are of poor technical quality. They are incredibly pixelated. The publishers might have accidentally published working images and not the full resolution ones

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Interesting Person! March 9, 2004

By Dawn Spencer

Format:Paperback

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I'm not sure Otto, in the previous review, put his review under the right book. His review isn't for THIS book, that's for sure!!!

I've just completed reading "Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything" 2004 edition. It is a VERY fascinating look at a man who lived in the 1600's. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it!

Loved the book, and will recommend it!

Again, this is for the 2004, Hardcover edition.