Atlas of Medieval and Renaissance Thought, Philosophy and Science: Overviews and Surveys in the Form of Charts, Tables and Conceptual Maps

This conceptual Atlas of Medieval and Renaissance Thought, Philosophy and Science presents visual overviews, thematic outlines, surveys and summaries of the many thematic aspects of this long period of European intellectual history, c. 400 to 1600.

Conceptual charts and ‘maps’ are well suited for structuring, organizing and presenting information, although this approach is rarely used in the humanities. The pictorial representations in this atlas are multi-dimensional: chronological, thematic, rating the importance of the thinker or tradition and showing affinities and tensions between them. Many of the diagrams are chronologically proportional which gives the reader an immediate sense of time and historical distance. This book constitutes a sort of ‘intellectual atlas’, in many ways comparable to a geographical atlas, but instead charting out the intellectual landscape of this period. The topics covered include the history of medieval Christianity, Judaism and Islam; the history of science; the Renaissance; the history of books, literacy and education; the history of knowledge; and medieval and Renaissance historiography.

Each diagram offers the perfect starting point to a fuller understanding of an aspect of medieval and Renaissance thought, allowing students to engage with the topic visually to support making their own assessments. The atlas can function as a companion volume to, or as a reference work for, a wide range of courses, approaches to and interests in medieval and Renaissance history.

Thomas H. Brobjer is Professor at the Department of the History of Science and Ideas at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has been teaching intellectual history for many years and has two PhDs, in natural science and in intellectual history. He has written eleven books and many articles, especially on Nietzsche’s thought, where he has emphasized Nietzsche’s reading, library and contexts, as well as about his final unfinished four-volume Revaluation of All Values. Brobjer has over many years developed ways to present knowledge and intellectual history graphically in 'Atlas-projects'. He has recently published an Atlas of the History of Modern Science (2025).