{"product_id":"a-man-of-misconceptions-isbn-9781594631894","title":"A Man of Misconceptions","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eScientific American \u003c\/i\u003eBest Science Book of 2012 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn Atlantic Wire Best Book of 2012\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e “Editor's Choice”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe “fascinating” (\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e) story of Athanasius Kircher, the eccentric scholar-inventor who was either a great genius or a crackpot . . . or a bit of both.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe interests of Athanasius Kircher, the legendary seventeenth-century priest-scientist, knew no bounds. From optics to music to magnetism to medicine, he offered up inventions and theories for everything, and they made him famous across Europe. His celebrated museum in Rome featured magic lanterns, speaking statues, the tail of a mermaid, and a brick from the Tower of Babel. Holy Roman Emperors were his patrons, popes were his friends, and in his spare time he collaborated with the Baroque master Bernini.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Kircher lived during an era of radical transformation, in which the old approach to knowledge—what he called the “art of knowing”— was giving way to the scientific method and modern thought. \u003ci\u003eA Man of Misconceptions \u003c\/i\u003etraces the rise, success, and eventual fall of this fascinating character as he attempted to come to terms with a changing world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith humor and insight, John Glassie returns Kircher to his rightful place as one of history’s most unforgettable figures.\u003cbr\u003e “Like his subject, Athanasius Kircher, writer John Glassie has the rare gift of authentic quirkiness. \u003ci\u003eA Man of Misconceptions \u003c\/i\u003eleaves you contemplating the big questions, delightedly scratching your head, and laughing—all at the same time.”\u003cbr\u003e—Mark Kurlansky, author of \u003ci\u003eCod \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSalt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’ve been waiting my entire adult life for someone to write a popular biography of the loopy, ingenious scholar-priest Athanasius Kircher, and John Glassie has delivered marvelously. A man of insatiable curiosity and staggeringly diverse intellectual passions, Kircher may have been the greatest polymath of all time—or at least the most eccentric.”\u003cbr\u003e—Joshua Foer, author of \u003ci\u003eMoonwalking with Einstein\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Glassie brings the ultimate mad professor Athanasius Kircher vividly to life, revealing him to be a kind of cross between Leonardo da Vinci and Mr. Bean. A most entertaining foray into the history of science.”\u003cbr\u003e—Ross King, author of \u003ci\u003eBrunelleschi’s Dome\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A marvelous insight into the mind of one of the world’s most eccentric thinkers. Glassie brings Kircher to life—and what a life it is!”\u003cbr\u003e—Adrian Tinniswood, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Verneys\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePirates of Barbary\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What a brilliant and revealing book about a fascinating character, one I had no previous knowledge about. Glassie’s genius is to make Kircher and his era come alive for us centuries later in such a way that I can hear and touch him.”\u003cp\u003e— Abraham Verghese, author of \u003ci\u003eCutting for Stone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This fascinating biography of the Renaissance polymath Athanasius Kircher explores the birth of modern science through the life of one of the last pre-modern geniuses.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[A] brisk new biography...stirring…with impressive verve and un-Kircherian concision.”\u003cbr\u003e– \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In his quirky biography of Athanasius Kircher … Mr. Glassie uses Kircher as something of a comic foil to show how erroneous ideas about investigating nature helped lead to modern science... [A] spirited telling.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You will come away from Glassie's book ... feeling inspired by the incredible inventive spirit of the man behind such creations as the ‘cat piano’ and ‘the speaking trumpet’ — and at the same time a bit sad that such characters as Kircher have been left mostly forgotten in the winds of time. You'll feel more knowledgeable about everything because of this book.”\u003cbr\u003e— \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Wire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Hooh boy! ... Why do I love Kircher so much? Chalk it up to the man’s passion for scientific inquiry, and his boundless curiosity about how the world works.”\u003cbr\u003e— \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Glassie’s biography ... brings into stark relief the pressures of the intellectual climate he lived in ... a time when witch trials flourished, prevailing logic said bees spontaneously generated from dung, and when it was widely believed that something called the vegetable lamb plant of Tartary produced actual sheep as its fruit.”\u003cbr\u003e— \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In the course of his life, Kircher opined, almost invariably incorrectly, about the nature of light, magnetism, and the geography of the earth…Glassie has a genuine affection for Kircher despite the latter's laughably bizarre theories and self-aggrandizing egotism. In fact, the author's affection humanizes Kircher, making him oddly credible.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An entertaining reminder that skepticism can be good.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“excellent…An entertaining and enlightening biography of a man who has been, probably unfairly, almost entirely left out of the history of science.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"His sharp eye for the absurd helps Glassie make Kircher's story interesting and superbly human.... Glassie tells Kircher's complex story with humor and genuine passion, using fascinating details to bring us into Kircher's world. \"\u003cbr\u003e— Bookslut\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What makes \u003ci\u003eA Man of Misconceptions\u003c\/i\u003e fascinating is how it sets the intellectual scene of the 17th century ... and it's that clarity of scene that helps make sense of a contradictory character.\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eMental Floss Magazine \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fun and magisterial ... A simply fascinating book about a fascinating figure.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e— \u003ci\u003eBaltimore City Paper\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Very entertaining.\"\u003cbr\u003e— NPR's \"Science Friday\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Glassie\u003c\/b\u003e, a former contributing editor to \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, has written for \u003ci\u003eThe Believer\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Republic, The New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review Daily\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of the photo book \u003ci\u003eBicycles Locked to Poles\u003c\/i\u003e and lives in Brooklyn, New York.","brand":"Riverhead Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302394613989,"sku":"NP9781594631894","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781594631894.jpg?v=1767720630","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/a-man-of-misconceptions-isbn-9781594631894","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}