DARK AGES RECONSIDERED

Hannam, James

The Genesis of Science How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution

Washington, D.C., Regnery Publishing, 2011.

MAYBE THE DARK AGES WEREN'T SO DARK AFTER ALL.
James Hannam challenges the familiar picture of the Middle Ages as an era of intellectual stagnation, arguing instead that medieval natural philosophy, technological innovation, universities, and Christian intellectual culture helped establish foundations upon which the Scientific Revolution was built.

FROM MEDIEVAL SCHOLARS TO MODERN SCIENCE.
Moving from the fall of Rome through the Renaissance and Galileo, Hannam examines medieval achievements in mathematics, astronomy, optics, medicine, mechanics, and technology. Along the way he addresses persistent historical assumptions—including the belief that medieval Europeans thought the earth was flat and the simple opposition of religion and scientific inquiry. The result is a broad, accessible history of how medieval intellectual life contributed to the development of Western science.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Hardcover in dust jacket. 9 inches; xxiii, 454 pages, followed by chapter notes, bibliography, and index. 

CONDITION: New. No flaws or blemishes. Dust jacket likewise without noted wear. Gift quality.

SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE — RETHINKING THE MEDIEVAL ORIGINS OF SCIENCE

BEFORE THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION.
Hannam argues that modern science did not suddenly appear after centuries of ignorance. Instead, medieval scholars made discoveries and developed ideas that helped prepare the way for the Scientific Revolution. Drawing on the work of leading historians of medieval science, Hannam brings this often-overlooked story to a general audience.

A RECOGNIZED HISTORY OF SCIENCE.
The original British edition, God's Philosophers, was shortlisted for the 2010 Royal Society Science Book Prize and the 2011 British Society for the History of Science Dingle Book Prize. The American edition appeared under the more explicitly argumentative title The Genesis of Science.

SUBJECTS: Medieval Science, Scientific Revolution, Natural Philosophy, Christianity and Science, Medieval Technology, History of Science, Galileo Galilei, Medieval Universities, Astronomy, Mathematics, Scientific Method, History of Science, Intellectual History, Medieval History, History of Ideas.

Item #22427
ISBN: 9781596981553

Price: $24.00