THE DEVIL'S DOCTOR : Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science

Philip Ball

ISBN 10: 0374229791 / ISBN 13: 9780374229795

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY, 2006

About this Item

Text/NEW & Bright. First Edition, 1st Printing. Gilt embossed bi-color boards/Fine. DJ/Fine w/a whisper of rubs to corner tips. Intellectual history of the 16th century via the biography genre from British science writer Philip Ball (1962 -) celebrated for The Critical Mass (2004, Aventis Science Book Prize). In this book Ball deftly brings to life the intellectually rich & fertile times, albeit beset w/social discord, of the Renaissance via his colorful subject --- Switzerland born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim (1493 - 1541), who referred to himself as Paracelsus. Through his life we see the "intellectual ferment" leading to a new age of science & rationalism. Legend in his own times, he was an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon & radical theologian (contemporary of Luther), all the while many believed his travels were astride a magical white horse w/the elixir of life on hand. His name was linked with that of Faust, who did indeed bargain with the Devil. Exploring the intellectual, political & religious undercurrents of the16th century, Ball reveals how doctors practiced, how people traveled, how wars were fought; how Paracelsus was a product of his age of change & strife, of renaissance & reformation, and how, through the very attacks from established, contemporary conservatives & traditionalists on his ideas, elucidates the rise of the age of science & rationalism. 436 pgs in 20 chapters.

Seller Inventory # 020447

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE DEVIL'S DOCTOR : Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374229791
• ISBN 13: 9780374229795
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself Paracelsus, stands at the cusp of medieval and modern times. A contemporary of Luther, an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon, and a radical theologian, he attracted myths even before he died. His fantastic journeys across Europe and beyond were said to be made on a magical white horse, and he was rumored to carry the elixir of life in the pommel of his great broadsword. His name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil.

Who was the man behind these stories? Some have accused him of being a charlatan, a windbag who filled his books with wild speculations and invented words. Others claim him as the father of modern medicine. Philip Ball exposes a more complex truth in The Devil's Doctor—one that emerges only by entering into Paracelsus’s time. He explores the intellectual, political, and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century and looks at how doctors really practiced, at how people traveled, and at how wars were fought. For Paracelsus was a product of an age of change and strife, of renaissance and reformation. And yet by uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology, and alchemy, he assisted, almost in spite of himself, in the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism.  

About the Author

Philip Ball is the author of Life’s Matrix (FSG, 2000), Bright Earth (FSG, 2002), and Critical Mass (FSG, 2004), which won the Aventis Science Book Prize in 2005.