“The goal [of this book] was to rethink dated interpretations of the Scientific Revolution in Spain. . . . The book also explores how science related to the Spanish Empire and focuses on very significant comparisons between the Iberian and other cases considered marginal to the Scientific Revolution, such as the Chinese. . . . Anyone working in the history of science, after browsing through the titles included in this collection of essays, will be envious of those who had the chance to come together for a few days to discuss such important and compelling issues about the Scientific Revolution in Spain—myself included. . . . [The articles] challenge [the] traditional assertion that Spain was almost untouched by the Protestant Reformation and that it had no Scientific Revolution to speak of. . . . Besides making significant contributions to several specific topics and subfields in the history of science in Spain and Portugal, this book points out that pluralism, not monopolistic uniformity, was the norm and that local contexts are all important for clarifying the broader one.”
-Beatriz Domingues, Isis
“In strong yet measured terms, the editors make a case for the need to include Iberia in discussions of the history of science, and the history of modernity more generally. . . . [The essays] provide strong testimony that historians of science leave Iberia out of the picture at their peril. . . . Iberian contributions to early modern science are clearly undeniable; yet the volume’s overarching purpose is not just to include Spain and Portugal in the traditional narrative of the Scientific Revolution, but rather to provide new directions for that narrative, a new synthesis that will serve to “get beyond” the traditional Black Legend. . . .This is a high-quality work whose pathbreaking scholarship provides an invaluable contribution to the historiography of science and will hopefully go a long way toward eliminating the Black Legend of Spanish science.”
-Paula De Vos, Renaissance Quarterly
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.
