This is a fundamental re-assessment of the world-view of the alchemists, natural philosophers and intelligencers of the mid 17th century. Based almost entirely upon the extensive and hitherto little-researched manuscript archive of Samuel Hartlib, it charts and contextualises the personal and intellectual history of Johann Moriaen (c.1592-1668), a Dutch-German alchemist and natural philosopher. Moriaen was closely acquainted with many of the leading thinkers and experimenters of his time, including Rene Descartes, J.A. Comenius, J.R. Glauber and J.S. KA1/4ffler. His detailed reports of relations with these figures and his response to their work provide a uniquely informed insight into the world of alchemy and natural philosophy. This study also illuminates the nature and mechanisms of intellectual and technological exchanges between Germany, The Netherlands and England.
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Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
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Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
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ISBN-13
978-1-84014-282-2 (9781840142822)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Contents: List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Foreword; Part One: Johann Moriaen: A Biographical sketch: Servant of the Church: Origins and Upbringing; Under the Cross; Mystics and Utopists; Wanderjahre; Servant of God: In a Free Country; Moriaen and the Jews; Technological Exchanges; The Godly Entrepreneur; An Intelligencer's Ethos: Public and Private; 'Without Partialitie': the Irenic Ideal; Part Two: Universal Wisdom: Panaceas of the Soul: Comenius and the Dream of Universal Knowledge: Origins of the Pansophic Project; The Notion of Pansophy: Beyond Bacon and Alsted; 'To Leave No Problem Unsolved': The New Mathematics as a Model for Pansophy; The Collection in The Netherlands; Comenius's Visits to England and the Netherlands; Curing Creation: Alchemy and Spirituality: 'Ora et Labora': 'Pray and Labour'; Chemistry versus Alchemy; The Key to Creation; Universal Medicines: Johann Rudolph Glauber and his Reception in England: 'Paracelsus of the Seventeenth Century' or 'German Robert Boyle'?; Heyday in The Netherlands; Flight into Germany; Last Years in Amsterdam; Glauber's Reception in the Hartlib Circle; The Dawn of Wisdom: Benjamin Worsley's Alchemical Mission to the Netherlands; Moriaen and the 'Great Work'; The Gate of Things; Conclusion; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.
