The second volume of Lynn Thorndike’s A History of Magic and Experimental Science continues his landmark study of the entangled history of magic, superstition, and natural inquiry through the first thirteen centuries of the Christian era. Thorndike examines astrology, alchemy, medicine, and natural philosophy, drawing on a wealth of manuscript sources to show how learned men pursued the secrets of nature in ways that mingled science and the occult throughout the medieval period.
Building on the first volume, Thorndike further dismantles the myth of a wholly credulous Middle Ages, revealing instead a complex intellectual culture in which experiment, observation, and magical belief coexisted. The work remains foundational for the history of medieval science. Readers fascinated by alchemy, astrology, or the origins of experimental method will find much to explore. This free EPUB edition completes the availability of Thorndike’s classic two-volume study of magic and science in the medieval world.