De Re Metallica (Dover Earth Science) [Paperback]

Georgius Agricola (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1950 | ISBN-10: 0486600068 | ISBN-13: 978-0486600062

One of the most important scientific classics of all time, this 1556 work on mining was the first based on field research and observation and the methods of modern science. 289 authentic Renaissance woodcuts. Translated by Herbert Hoover. Reprint of English (1912) edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1950)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486600068
• ISBN-13: 978-0486600062
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly illustrated classic, December 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: De Re Metallica (Dover Earth Science) (Paperback)

This is one of the great classics, richly illustrated with over 200 woodcuts, most full page. It was published in 1556 by Georgius Agricola. The English translation is by former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, and first Lady Lou. Virtually all of the equipment illustrated was current until a few decades ago. Agricola describes and illustrates such "modern" methods as amalgamation, and the use of spiral inclines for transporting heavy equipment from the surface to underground. The (unnamed) "books" (chapters) which compose the book could be titled: 1 The Social Impact of Mining; 2 Mine Management, Exploration, and Prospecting; 3 The Theory of Ore Deposits; 4 Mining Law; 5 Shaft Sinking, Drifting, and Surveying; 6 Mining Equipment, Haulage, Dewatering, Ventilation, and Hazards; 7: Assaying; 8 Beneficiation; 9 Smelting; 10 Separation of Gold from Silver and Silver Refining; 11 Separation of Gold and Silver from Copper and Iron and Copper Refining; 12 Industrial Mineral, Chemical, and Glass Production. The text is a bit dense, but is worth the trouble.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ian Myles Slater on: A Humanist's Industrial Handbook, October 12, 2003

By 

Ian M. Slater "aylchanan" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: De Re Metallica (Dover Earth Science) (Paperback)

Georg Pawer was an extremely well educated German in the Humanist tradition of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. It was natural that he turned his Greco-German name into Greco-Latin, labeling himself Georgius Agricola. Both versions mean Farmer (Georgios) Farmer (Pawer = Bauer / Agricola). He was a physician by profession. Neither side of his background would seem to suit him to write one of the great books on mining and the refining of ores, but as an official town physician, responsible for treating miners at no additional charge, he seems to have won their trust. The result was a manual, aimed not at people who would have to dig up ores, but at potential investors, and officials and lawyers, who would have to deal with financing, administration and litigation. He set out the basic customs and practices of mining, described the remarkably elaborate machines needed to keep mines dry and ventilated, and processing and refining, with their devices and chemicals. Naturally, he wrote it in the language of real scholarship, Latin, not sixteenth-century German.

Since surviving classical Latin is not abundantly supplied with appropriate technical terms, and those which exist are not always clear, the resulting text was soon found to present formidable difficulties, despite important aids from accompanying illustrations. There were early attempts at translating it into German, and even a rendering into Chinese (an early attempt to emulate the mysterious Occidentals and their terror-weapons), but when this translation appeared in 1912, German scholars were humiliated to find that they had been outclassed by a couple of mere "Englanders". They were probably even less happy to find that the translators were Americans.

Actually, Lou Henry Hoover, a good classicist, made a perfect team with her husband, the mining engineer Herbert Hoover, who was shortly to become much better known for humanitarian relief work, and an unhappy experience as President of the United States. The engineering half of the partnership knew what the problems were, and the sort of thing that Agricola must have been trying to say, and the classicist could tell whether the vocabulary and grammar could carry that meaning. The result was a book which was not only beautiful, with its reproductions of the original illustrations, but a genuine contribution to the history of technology.

The Dover reprinting of 1950 was one of the first, if not the first, of that publisher's adventures in bringing important works back into print, in attractive editions, at reasonable prices. It remains a gem, whether regarded from points of view of the history of technology, of art, or of Renaissance Humanism. The only thing missing is Agricola's companion treatise on other hazards of mining, like kobolds and other malicious spirits (yes, I am serious; he had lots of testimony from honest miners, after all).

Of course, nothing human is perfect, and there are some hints of why such a practical man as Herbert Hoover, with a real concern for human suffering, proved so doctrinaire in the face of the Depression. At one point, the Hoovers scold the Romans for concentrating on German metal resources, instead of trying to build up the only true source of wealth, Agriculture. A lovely sentiment, very eighteenth-century Physiocratic, but it did not seem to occur to them that any agricultural surplus would have had to be shipped down the Rhine, into the North Sea, and around Europe, to be of any immediate benefit to Rome. If it stayed in Germany, it would just feed more nasty, Roman-hating Germans -- so much better to concentrate on something more compact and worth carrying across the Alps, or at least useful for arming the Legions. (Of course, there are also the problems of whether Italian agricultural techniques were of any value in the Rhine valley, and why the Germans had not learned appropriate methods from the neighboring Gauls -- but that leads in other directions.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential reading for students of technological history, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: De Re Metallica (Dover Earth Science) (Paperback)

This early work describes the thinking of early technologists and shows the development of materials technology and related engineering knowledge of the late 15th century. Of particular interest is the detailed research done by Herbert Hoover, former President and mining engieer. His research is detailed in extensive foot notes. The illustrations are exact copies of the originals. Some of the early chapters are the most intersting reading because of the insights gained into archaic thinking that extrapolates to modern times.