Science and the Secrets of Nature

<p>By explaining how to sire multicolored horses produce nuts without shells and create an egg the size of a human head Giambattista Della Porta's <i>Natural Magic</i> (1559) conveys a fascination with tricks and illusions that makes it a work difficult for historians of science to take seriously. Yet according to William Eamon it is in the how-to books written by medieval alchemists magicians and artisans that modern science has its roots. These compilations of recipes on everything from parlor tricks through medical remedies to wool-dyeing fascinated medieval intellectuals because they promised access to esoteric secrets of nature. In closely examining this rich but little-known source of literature Eamon reveals that printing technology and popular culture had as great if not stronger an impact on early modern science as did the traditional academic disciplines.</p>