The Jewel House, Deborah E. Harkness
The Jewel House, Deborah E. Harkness
List: $21.99 | Sale: $15.39
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The Jewel House
Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution

Author: Deborah E. Harkness

Narrator: Kate Reading

Unabridged: 14 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/13/2014


Synopsis

Bestselling author Deborah E. Harkness explores the streets, shops, back alleys, and gardens of Elizabethan London, where a boisterous and diverse group of men and women shared a keen interest in the study of nature. These assorted merchants, gardeners, barber-surgeons, midwives, instrument makers, mathematics teachers, engineers, alchemists, and other experimenters, she contends, formed a patchwork scientific community whose practices set the stage for the Scientific Revolution. It was their collaborative, yet often contentious, ethos that helped to develop the ideals of modern scientific research.

The Jewel House examines six particularly fascinating episodes of scientific inquiry and dispute in sixteenth-century London, bringing to life the individuals involved and the challenges they faced. These men and women experimented and invented, argued and competed, waged wars in the press, and struggled to understand the complexities of the natural world. Together, their stories illuminate the blind alleys and surprising twists and turns taken as medieval philosophy gave way to the empirical, experimental culture that became a hallmark of the Scientific Revolution.

About Deborah E. Harkness

Deborah E. Harkness is the New York Times bestselling author of the All Souls trilogy and John Dee's Conversations with Angels. Deborah holds degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. She currently teaches European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Leslie on February 18, 2011

An interesting exploration of popular science in Elizabethan London. She focuses on the communal, collaborative scientific inquiries pursued by people almost entirely forgotten to history or never known to it, showing how their endeavours provided the foundation for the later achievements of the Sci......more

Goodreads review by Linda on January 05, 2023

If like me you have a passion for the Elizabethan period “The Jewel House” by Deborah Harkess is a great book to have in your collection. After reading and falling in love with the author’s “Shadow of Night” I was really keen to read some of her academic work. This is an extremely interesting book th......more

Goodreads review by Darlene on July 12, 2024

I can't believe that I am almost finished with this book. And though I am not a fan of textbooks or history, I have enjoyed this one. This is the proof of the research Professor Deborah E. Harkness has immersed herself in. Kate Reading's narration was fantastic. Sometimes, my mind wandered, but her......more

Goodreads review by Robert on June 14, 2021

Dry, wordy and opinionated, this work seems more intent on naming individuals rather than discussing their lasting contributions to either science or the Scientific Revolution. As well it is difficult to see how she could describe these people, like the ones on Lime street, with such detail, given t......more

Goodreads review by Mike on October 13, 2013

I really want to visit Deborah Harkness's London, and her writing is so strong that I feel I almost have. The Jewel House tells us stories of everyday naturalists, engineers, alchemists and tinkerers who populated Elizabethan London at the dawn of the Scientific Revolution. Harkness does an amazing......more