Introduction
Printing, Popular Culture, and the Scientific Revolution
Chapter 1
The Literature of Secrets in the Middle Ages
Chapter 2
Knowledge and Power
Chapter 3
Arcana Disclosed
Chapter 4
The ‘Professors of Secrets’ and Their Books
Chapter 5
Leonardo Fioravanti, Vendor of Secrets
Chapter 6
Natural Magic and the Secrets of Nature
Chapter 7
The Secrets of Nature in Popular Culture
Chapter 8
Science as a Venatio
Chapter 9
The Virtuosi and the Secrets of Nature
Chapter 10
From the Secrets of Nature to Public Knowledge
Conclusion
SET AGAINST THE SUMPTUOUS BACKDROP
of Renaissance Italy, this riveting tale explores the era’s medicine and culture through the life of the world’s first "celebrity doctor"—whose miracle cures and outsize personality drew both adoration and scorn.
The Professor of Secrets was Leonardo Fioravanti, a brilliant, forward-thinking, and utterly unconventional doctor... His marvelous remedies and talent for self-aggrandizement earned him the adoration of the people, the derision of the medical establishment, and a reputation as one of his era’s most colorful and combative figures.
