A brief summary of ancient thinkers who contribute to a theory of the physical universe, ranging from Anaximander to Proclus, with a major emphasis on pre-Aristotelian thought. Included in the work are many well-chosen abstracts of primary sources, such as Hippocrates' "On the Sacred Disease" and Parmenides' "On Nature." De Santillana presents a lively account of his materials, together with helpful illustrations. There is a rather insensitive portrayal of Aristotle as a mere synopticist of earlier theories and as primarily (...) concerned with "a tidiness of words."--T. M. G. (shrink)

Explores the thoughts of philosophers such as Montaigne, Copernicus, Sir Thomas More, Machiavelli, and Erasmus.

Explores the thoughts of philosophers such as Montaigne, Copernicus, Sir Thomas More, Machiavelli, and Erasmus.

Explores the thoughts of philosophers such as Montaigne, Copernicus, Sir Thomas More, Machiavelli, and Erasmus.

"Contents: " "Man Without Letters." Newton, the Enigma. Paolo Toscanelli and His Friends. Alessandro Volta. Galileo Today. Necessity, Contingency, and Natural Law. Prologue to Parmenides. Galileo and Oppenheimer. The Role of Art in the Scientific Renaissance. The Italian Novel Today--A Note on Realism. The Seventeenth-Century Legacy: Our Mirror of Being. Philolaos in Limbo, Or: What Happened to the Pythagoreans? Paralipomena of the Future. Vico and Descartes. Eudodux and Plato: A Study in Chronology. "Scientific Rationalism." Einstein (pour le decennal de sa (...) mort). Les Grandes Doctrines Cosmologiques. De Bruno a Leibnitz. Postface a Galilee; Les Suites de l'Affaire. La Storia da Riscrivere. Fato Antico--Fato Moderno. Salvemini. Il Rovescio della Medaglia. (shrink)

Nicholas of Cusa.--The academic scholar.--Leonardo da Vinci.--Sir Thomas More.--Machiavelli.--Erasmus, Luther, and Dürer.--Michelangelo.--Copernicus.--Montaigne.--Paracelsus, Kepler, and Boehme.--Galileo.--Hakluyt.--Giordano Bruno.--Recommended further reading (p. 277-281).