ramonmercado
CyberPunk
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There may be another Thread regarding the Not So Dark Ages.
‘The Light Ages’ illuminates the science of the so-called Dark Ages
The book re-creates the life of a monk who contributed to astronomy
b Falk
W.W. Norton & Co., $30
A long-standing myth about medieval history is that the Middle Ages were intellectually dark. Science supposedly took a hiatus between the demise of Rome and the rise of Copernican astronomy and Galileo’s physics, some superficial accounts suggest.
“The medieval reality, however, is a Light Age of scientific interest and inquiry,” historian Seb Falk writes in The Light Ages. Historians have long known that medieval monasteries and universities hosted many deep thinkers engaged in sophisticated intellectual enterprises. In particular, Falk emphasizes, the medieval era produced high-level technical achievements in the realm of scientific instrument making.
Falk tells his story from the perspective of John Westwyk, a monk at St. Albans Abbey in England in the 14th century. Little is known about Westwyk, but Falk re-creates his life through an account of the life events and duties of monks at that time. Westwyk is known to have produced two important astronomical manuscripts, both about scientific instruments.
Most noteworthy among the instruments of the day was the astrolabe, a contraption containing movable disks to measure and represent the positions of astronomical objects. If you ever wondered how astrolabes worked, down to the last detail, this is the book for you. And if you’re curious about the medieval obsession with astrology — a prime motivation for building astrolabes — your appetite will be sufficiently satisfied. ...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/light-ages-book-illuminates-science-medieval-dark-ages
‘The Light Ages’ illuminates the science of the so-called Dark Ages
The book re-creates the life of a monk who contributed to astronomy
b Falk
W.W. Norton & Co., $30
A long-standing myth about medieval history is that the Middle Ages were intellectually dark. Science supposedly took a hiatus between the demise of Rome and the rise of Copernican astronomy and Galileo’s physics, some superficial accounts suggest.
“The medieval reality, however, is a Light Age of scientific interest and inquiry,” historian Seb Falk writes in The Light Ages. Historians have long known that medieval monasteries and universities hosted many deep thinkers engaged in sophisticated intellectual enterprises. In particular, Falk emphasizes, the medieval era produced high-level technical achievements in the realm of scientific instrument making.
Falk tells his story from the perspective of John Westwyk, a monk at St. Albans Abbey in England in the 14th century. Little is known about Westwyk, but Falk re-creates his life through an account of the life events and duties of monks at that time. Westwyk is known to have produced two important astronomical manuscripts, both about scientific instruments.
Most noteworthy among the instruments of the day was the astrolabe, a contraption containing movable disks to measure and represent the positions of astronomical objects. If you ever wondered how astrolabes worked, down to the last detail, this is the book for you. And if you’re curious about the medieval obsession with astrology — a prime motivation for building astrolabes — your appetite will be sufficiently satisfied. ...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/light-ages-book-illuminates-science-medieval-dark-ages