Known and observed by all levels of society, the sun and moon, or the luminaries, were a continuous thread in the tapestry of late medieval and early modern English culture. Tracing this specific thread is a novel means of understanding changes in epistemological conceptions of the natural world realized in the Scientific Revolution. This book demonstrates that the luminaries were transformed from peerless bodies that radiated powerful forces into objects of scientific study, and in the case of the moon, a place to visit imaginatively with its own geography and probable inhabitants. Utilizing literary, historical, and visual evidence, Luminaries in the Natural World indicates how and why these changes in solar and lunar perceptions occurred among the scientific community from 1400 to 1680, breaking new ground with its emphasis on influences from cartography, astrology, and hermeticism. The author then turns to an analysis of the extent to which this cognitive shift occurred in larger English society, exploring conceptions of fashionable curiosity about the natural world from 1680 to 1720.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Peter Lang Publishing Inc
ISBN-13
9780820445632
eBay Product ID (ePID)
115965689
Product Key Features
Author
Anna Marie Eleanor Roos
Publication Name
Luminaries in The Natural World: the Sun and the Moon in England, 1400-1720 / Anna Marie E. Roos.
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
History
Publication Year
2001
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
338 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
230mm
Item Width
160mm
Volume
20
Item Weight
590g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Anna Marie Eleanor Roos
Series Title
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Wpi Studies) Studies in Science, Technology and Culture