The Medieval Discovery Of Nature
by Steven A. Epstein /
2012 / English / PDF
1.5 MB Download
This book examines the relationship between humans and nature that
evolved in medieval Europe over the course of a millennium. From
the beginning, people lived in nature and discovered things about
it. Ancient societies bequeathed to the Middle Ages both the Bible
and a pagan conception of natural history. These conflicting
legacies shaped medieval European ideas about the natural order and
what economic, moral, and biological lessons it might teach. This
book analyzes five themes found in medieval views of nature -
grafting, breeding mules, original sin, property rights, and
disaster - to understand what some medieval people found in nature
and what their assumptions and beliefs kept them from seeing.
This book examines the relationship between humans and nature that
evolved in medieval Europe over the course of a millennium. From
the beginning, people lived in nature and discovered things about
it. Ancient societies bequeathed to the Middle Ages both the Bible
and a pagan conception of natural history. These conflicting
legacies shaped medieval European ideas about the natural order and
what economic, moral, and biological lessons it might teach. This
book analyzes five themes found in medieval views of nature -
grafting, breeding mules, original sin, property rights, and
disaster - to understand what some medieval people found in nature
and what their assumptions and beliefs kept them from seeing.
