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The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution
Bestselling author Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night) 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. While Francis Bacon has been widely regarded as the father of modern science, scores of his London contemporaries also deserve a share in this distinction. It was their collaborative, yet often contentious, ethos that helped to develop the ideals of modern scientific research.
The book 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.
The book 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.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
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 Scientific Revolution. Newton may have stood on the shoulders of giants, but he also stood on the shoulders of obscure men and women who collected curiosities and bought new science books and grew rare plants in their gardens and taught themselves mathematics and were fascinated by new gadgets and constructed small laboratories where they conducted smelly chemical experiments or concocted new medicinal formulations. The villain of the book is Francis Bacon, often celebrated as the father of modern empirical science, but whom Harkness sees as a snobbish fraud who ignored or misrepresented the realities of contemporary science and inquiries into nature in favour of his own proposed ideal scientific institution, which was hierarchical, bureaucratic, and dominated by gentlemen. Instead, she presents a world where science was resolutely unhierarchical, where curious tradesmen, amateur herbalists, and unlicensed midwives joined with lawyers, mathematicians, and philosophers in sharing their discoveries and their questions. The most interesting chapter is probably the first, where she describes a community of naturalists in the area of Lime Street. This chapter succeeds in giving a sense of the bustling, communal character of the new scholarship. The style is academic but comfortably readable; I finished this in a few days.
August 6, 2017
I read this book while researching and writing an exhibit on "Science in the Time of Shakespeare" for my university's commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. It's a fascinating account of scientific activity and thinking in Elizabethan England centered on the burgeoning City of London, and makes the case that not all science was practiced by the luminaries of the age. In fact, Harkness warns the reader in the introduction that if you’ve come to read about Francis Bacon and his ilk, you’re in for a disappointment. A pivotal time in England intellectual history, the Age of Shakespeare saw the revival of classical learning that had begun in Italy in the 14th century. Large numbers of classical texts were translated into English for the first time and made more widely accessible. As important as the increased access to traditional scholarship was, however, the greatest intellectual advances in Elizabethan England occurred in new fields of learning spurred on by an increased emphasis on the practical applications of knowledge and a passion for tinkering (aka, experimentation). At the epicenter of the new learning was the City of London. The high degree of specialization in the city and a growing rate of literacy gave rise to a kind of grass-roots science practiced by glassmakers, distillers, instrument makers, alchemists, apothecaries, surgeons, midwives, and herbalists, who made medicines, planted botanical gardens, conducted experiments, and exchanged news, information, and ideas. It is these communities, which were a hot-bed of science, that historian Harkness meticulously and vividly chronicles. There, I've turned my exhibit text into a book review for this one!
January 5, 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 that sheds light on a few unknown key Elizabethan figures in the world of alchemy and natural science. It tells stories of everyday naturalists, engineers and alchemists who populated London at the dawn of the Scientific Revolution.
Ms Harkness does an amazing job of compiling the information she had available into a vivid and engaging narrative.
The Elizabethan era is an obsession of mine and this book gave me another persepctive on Elizabeth, her court and her environment.
Deborah Harkness’ wonderful “All Souls Trilogy” is without doubt my favourite book series but she is also a Professor of History and knows her subject inside out.
This book is one of her non-fiction works and although it’s a significant contribution to the history of science it also portraits life in the swarming, spreading city of London during the reign of Elizabeth.
The style is academic but comfortably readable, Ms Harkness’ clear manner of writing is still very evident here.
I would recommend that everyone who has a love of Elizabethan history reads this at one time or another to broaden their understanding of this time period. I absolutely loved it.
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 that sheds light on a few unknown key Elizabethan figures in the world of alchemy and natural science. It tells stories of everyday naturalists, engineers and alchemists who populated London at the dawn of the Scientific Revolution.
Ms Harkness does an amazing job of compiling the information she had available into a vivid and engaging narrative.
The Elizabethan era is an obsession of mine and this book gave me another persepctive on Elizabeth, her court and her environment.
Deborah Harkness’ wonderful “All Souls Trilogy” is without doubt my favourite book series but she is also a Professor of History and knows her subject inside out.
This book is one of her non-fiction works and although it’s a significant contribution to the history of science it also portraits life in the swarming, spreading city of London during the reign of Elizabeth.
The style is academic but comfortably readable, Ms Harkness’ clear manner of writing is still very evident here.
I would recommend that everyone who has a love of Elizabethan history reads this at one time or another to broaden their understanding of this time period. I absolutely loved it.
July 13, 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 voice and the energy she put into the reading brought me back and intrigued me.
I have always loved science and understand it as an evolving study. But how did anyone believe Newton, Galileo, and their contemporaries? How did we get to the point of believing in gravity and the planets around us? X-rays? Vaccines that have obliterated smallpox or polio? The beginnings of science came with alchemy, witchcraft, and people who understood herbs and gardening. If we think there is a lot of conspiracy now, consider how the idea of a falling apple becomes a fact.
This book shows how the idea machine helped and hindered our science heroes and villains. I found it freeing to think that if we listen to everyone and do our research, even the lowest of people, a child? can lead us to a new understanding.
Still, I can't wait to see the 5th book of All Souls. I miss the characters and the time travel. I feel I learn so much better when a story is involved. I wish I had taken notes and read the book in my own textbook with a highlighter pen. I may have to reread it with those thoughts in mind.
I have always loved science and understand it as an evolving study. But how did anyone believe Newton, Galileo, and their contemporaries? How did we get to the point of believing in gravity and the planets around us? X-rays? Vaccines that have obliterated smallpox or polio? The beginnings of science came with alchemy, witchcraft, and people who understood herbs and gardening. If we think there is a lot of conspiracy now, consider how the idea of a falling apple becomes a fact.
This book shows how the idea machine helped and hindered our science heroes and villains. I found it freeing to think that if we listen to everyone and do our research, even the lowest of people, a child? can lead us to a new understanding.
Still, I can't wait to see the 5th book of All Souls. I miss the characters and the time travel. I feel I learn so much better when a story is involved. I wish I had taken notes and read the book in my own textbook with a highlighter pen. I may have to reread it with those thoughts in mind.
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 the passage of time and lack of verifiable data on what are, in fact, secondary and tertiary individuals without resorting to a great deal of licence.
The author seems to be making the claim that more and better progress was made in the fields of natural philosophy when it was left in the hands of a community of often bickering amateurs, and their idiosyncratic approach than by the systematic one that was the hallmark of the Scientific Revolution. Furthermore. the discussion of the situation in medicine at that time, while not untrue, is really a separate topic, as medicine per se was (as it still is) a practical art, not a branch of science or natural philosophy. In fact it is unclear that the author has any real grasp of the difference between science and natural philosophy or the fact that the former is, by definition, the systematic practice of the latter.
The author seems to be making the claim that more and better progress was made in the fields of natural philosophy when it was left in the hands of a community of often bickering amateurs, and their idiosyncratic approach than by the systematic one that was the hallmark of the Scientific Revolution. Furthermore. the discussion of the situation in medicine at that time, while not untrue, is really a separate topic, as medicine per se was (as it still is) a practical art, not a branch of science or natural philosophy. In fact it is unclear that the author has any real grasp of the difference between science and natural philosophy or the fact that the former is, by definition, the systematic practice of the latter.
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 job of compiling scraps of information from diverse sources about these characters into a vivid and engaging narrative.
This is a work of history admirable both for its scholarly contributions and its thorough readability. Harkness is also a writer of fiction, and it shows in her ability to bring her characters to life and create a narrative arc for each chapter. William Cecil or Hugh Plat could give Thomas Cromwell a run for his money.
For those teaching undergraduate courses on the Scientific Revolution, I would suggest the last chapter, "From the Jewel House to Salomon's House: Hugh Plat, Francis Bacon, and the Social Foundations of the Scientific Revolution". It can stand alone and contains the core of her historiographical argument.
This is a work of history admirable both for its scholarly contributions and its thorough readability. Harkness is also a writer of fiction, and it shows in her ability to bring her characters to life and create a narrative arc for each chapter. William Cecil or Hugh Plat could give Thomas Cromwell a run for his money.
For those teaching undergraduate courses on the Scientific Revolution, I would suggest the last chapter, "From the Jewel House to Salomon's House: Hugh Plat, Francis Bacon, and the Social Foundations of the Scientific Revolution". It can stand alone and contains the core of her historiographical argument.
November 24, 2017
I really enjoyed her fantasy novels and I thought this sounded interesting. It was, but a bit dry as she laid out her discussion and then went through the steps exploring it.
If the history of science interests you, you'll probably find this a very good read. Her coda describing her method behind researching the topic and then settling on how to present it was especially enlightening.
If the history of science interests you, you'll probably find this a very good read. Her coda describing her method behind researching the topic and then settling on how to present it was especially enlightening.
December 29, 2021
This is an excellent book about the ordinary people whose experimental science formed the basis for the Scientific Revolution. Science is collaborative and never a product af a few great men. She puts Francis Bacon in his place.
April 3, 2023
I loved this book!! A fascinating dive into the history of early modern science that centers intriguing individuals, underrepresented communities, and a beautiful, exciting new world of exploratory thought. Highly recommend!
November 30, 2020
I’ll admit I had to skim like all of this to finish it in time for my class. I think if I had more time I would’ve enjoyed the more technical history behind each one of the stories but I just did not have the time. Seeing the insight of super important people of the scientific Revolution who get lost in the history was interesting and I love Deborah Harkness’s writing style so I couldn’t complain that it was dull at some points
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July 11, 2012Through the stories of relatively obscure Londoners, derived from the study of many manuscripts and early printed books, Harkness makes a convincing argument for finding the origins of modern scientific method in the work of people other than Francis Bacon. She shows that while Bacon, a gentleman, believed that true science required the involvement of a natural philosopher like him, many others were actually attempting to understand the natural world by doing experiments, analyzing the results, and writing about the process. Her emphasis is on collaboration and community, from the Flemish and Dutch merchants in Lime Street to a compiler of detailed notebooks in debtors’ prison. What we call alchemy involved much testing and recording of data, with the legitimate goal of improving England’s mineral resources. Her title comes from a 1594 book by Hugh Plat, who collected information from workmen and from women as well as from books and then tested the results--thus a more practical model than Bacon. Interesting and readable.
February 6, 2012
Being a historian of science and having fallen in love with 'A Discovery of Witches' it was only natural for me to put a bit of effort into finding the academic works of Harkness. This is a very interesting book that sheds light on a few unknown key Elizabethan figures in the world of alchemy and natural science. Strangely, however, her writing is often labored and dry. I had real trouble reconciling the style of this to her fiction. It is a real shame when history is written this way because it is books like this that make people think the subject is boring. Given Harkness' talent it is disappointing that she has written such an interesting book in such a dull fashion.
September 6, 2013
This is a highly accessible and compulsively readable history of science in Elizabethan England. I am not a specialist, but Harkness makes you want to run right out and get your own degree in the history of science. Her approach -- a historical, multi-site ethnography, of sorts, mixed with New Historicism and exhaustively researched both in terms of primary and secondary resources, makes for a compelling and wide-ranging narrative with a good mix of well-known and unknown individuals. I have never enjoyed reading a chapter in a historical study more than I did the first chapter of this one, "Living on Lime Street."
November 2, 2021
This book belongs in the dumpster. The most painful, drawn out book I have ever read. It is extremely thorough and has a lot of great citations but for what. Evidence is great but there was so much information I found myself thinking about what I wanted to eat for dinner more than Francis Bacon and his shitty ideals for Salomon's house. Some of the anecdotes were great, but getting through a singular chapter of this book without having to reread every five seconds was like trying to convince a child a veggie burger is better than a double double from fucking In n Out.
December 21, 2011
A very interesting take on the Scientific Revolution in 16th century Londaon, this book is also a model of how to do historical research. I love the Tudor era; this book gave me another persepctive on Elizabeth and her court and her environment
August 1, 2024
For an academic novel, this reads well. The research is solid, drawing new conclusions about the development of science.
January 1, 2025
Hard to get through. I tried so hard but couldn't finish 😞
November 18, 2018
It took awhile to read. You have to take your time with history books when it is not a subject matter you are familiar with. Elizabethan London was the true seeds of the later Renaissance period. There was so much learning and experimenting going on then. Some books cite Francis Bacon as the father of science but he really wasn't. Platt deserves more credit for gathering the knowledge of tried and proven things and publishing them. He learned from all. Whether it was from the alchemists how to distill a plant for it's juice, how to better make a furnace, how to best preserve fruits and cheese. He talked to everyone no matter their social rank. Then he would test what they had told him himself before he would ever publish. He weeded out a lot of old wives tales and really furthered scientific learning for all. His goal was that it should not be limited to the college educated few but, for the good of the commonwealth, to all.
Deborah Harkness is currently more known for her fiction because Acorn TV has started producing "A Discovery of Witches" as a tv series. Her All Souls trilogy is fantastic but she is a Professor of history and knows her stuff. This is one of her non-fiction works and that same clear manner of writing is evident here. What took me so long was understanding some of the Elizabethan terms. I did have to use some of the footnotes to understand some references and terms. Some I just looked up on the internet. I wanted to read it because I was so taken by her amount of detail in the All Souls trilogy when they have to hide in time and go to the Elizabeth the 1st London. It was so detailed. Now I see why. She really knows that period very well. I look forward to finding more of her non-fiction to read.
Deborah Harkness is currently more known for her fiction because Acorn TV has started producing "A Discovery of Witches" as a tv series. Her All Souls trilogy is fantastic but she is a Professor of history and knows her stuff. This is one of her non-fiction works and that same clear manner of writing is evident here. What took me so long was understanding some of the Elizabethan terms. I did have to use some of the footnotes to understand some references and terms. Some I just looked up on the internet. I wanted to read it because I was so taken by her amount of detail in the All Souls trilogy when they have to hide in time and go to the Elizabeth the 1st London. It was so detailed. Now I see why. She really knows that period very well. I look forward to finding more of her non-fiction to read.
January 4, 2022
DNF at around 25% of the book -- a failed Kindle device somehow crashed the possibility of re-downloading, effectively ending the possibility of reading this on a newer device. This proved to be a revelation: although I felt piqued enough to plod on, having the book "swept" from my hands made me realize just how invested this is.
Ms. Harkness has carefully built what is evidently a lovingly-crafted reconstruction of the day-to-day, congenial practices of science buffs and scientist-wannabes in Elizabethan London. This is the book's strength and also its shortcoming. Because the reader must dearly want to delve deeply into the names, personal relationships and habits of plant growers, amateur surgeons, hacks and quacks which flocked to the city, in a time when country borders were often challenged and crowns were worn to submit wills to every whim.
Make no mistake, it is a detailed tapestry and sheds light on a host of practices and competing emotions. If Elizabeth I is your Queen Eternal, or if anything remotely related to Shakespeare is your life-water, then this might be a good choice. For me, it was just too much information for my comparatively little interest in such a niche subject.
Ms. Harkness has carefully built what is evidently a lovingly-crafted reconstruction of the day-to-day, congenial practices of science buffs and scientist-wannabes in Elizabethan London. This is the book's strength and also its shortcoming. Because the reader must dearly want to delve deeply into the names, personal relationships and habits of plant growers, amateur surgeons, hacks and quacks which flocked to the city, in a time when country borders were often challenged and crowns were worn to submit wills to every whim.
Make no mistake, it is a detailed tapestry and sheds light on a host of practices and competing emotions. If Elizabeth I is your Queen Eternal, or if anything remotely related to Shakespeare is your life-water, then this might be a good choice. For me, it was just too much information for my comparatively little interest in such a niche subject.
January 29, 2018
An amazing, though occasionally difficult, read. If you like science, or history, or Elizabethan London, you will be dazzled in the amount of meticulous research Harkness has put into this work. And if you're lucky like me, and you enjoy all three subjects, this is really a rare bonus! I am already a Harkness fan through her All Souls trilogy. Although fictional, it is filled with accurate historical characters and references. This however, is a very scholarly work of nonfiction. At times, the sheer amount of detailed information is hard to swallow, and some of the repetition is tedious. I can see some fans of her fiction may be disappointed her, but if they are fans partly because of a love for accurate historical fiction, there is more to love her. I first encountered John Dees through several works of historical fiction, and it still tickles me to know he was very real.
March 12, 2023
What an enterprise. So many sources taken into account, a real rethinking on how natural science in Europe and more especially England begun and happened.
Loved the way Harkness showed the contrast between the arrogance of famous Francis Bacon and the enthousiasm of so many different Londoners, from totally different social and professional backgrounds, for their research and hand-on experiments.
Harkness writes well, vividly, so I enjoyed reading a lot.
This book is enlightening about how knowledge is acquired and constructed.
How very hard it is to engage in chemistry if you know nothing of molecules and atoms or in medicine if the existence of bacteria and virusses is totally unknown. There was a long way to go which took a lot of courage.
Loved the way Harkness showed the contrast between the arrogance of famous Francis Bacon and the enthousiasm of so many different Londoners, from totally different social and professional backgrounds, for their research and hand-on experiments.
Harkness writes well, vividly, so I enjoyed reading a lot.
This book is enlightening about how knowledge is acquired and constructed.
How very hard it is to engage in chemistry if you know nothing of molecules and atoms or in medicine if the existence of bacteria and virusses is totally unknown. There was a long way to go which took a lot of courage.
May 16, 2018
It's research and it reads as such. Well documented and interesting. Some nuggets gleaned from the research: Turns out Sir Bacon wasn't such a big deal as history makes him out to be; he was more interested in thinking about things than actually doing them. The book had a great deal of influence on the Scientific Revolution. Publishing greatly changed the dissemination of knowledge, which was more critical of the truth. It seems the tide has turned with social media being the new town gossip. Elizabethan England may have been the height of the snake oil salesperson. I am looking forward to reading the last book in her fictional trilogy in the context of these nuggets.
March 10, 2018
An interesting read, well written on a scholarly way, yet easily enjoyed by someone like me who has a passing knowledge of the time. This work shows the paving stones of what came scientifically in succeeding centuries. There was also a smattering of the way the politics of the time either helped or hindered progress. Also the importance of the publishing or the lack thereof in promoting progress and/or false information. She makes sense out of what otherwise might appear chaotic and random. While not the utter joy of her fiction, an intriguing work.
August 27, 2019
I felt a bit disappointed, that it wasn't "exactly" clear that this book was a reference book, and not a true story. I chose it for a book club, and everyone was excited about it, then disappointed.
Yes, it was informative, but it was a hard read.
I'd have loved to see this book unfolded, as a true storyline with an emphasis on the female characters (Non-fictionally) describing their landscape and trials through this period of enlightenment.
Yes, it was informative, but it was a hard read.
I'd have loved to see this book unfolded, as a true storyline with an emphasis on the female characters (Non-fictionally) describing their landscape and trials through this period of enlightenment.
December 27, 2021
For fans of Discovery of Witches books, this is an extreme disappointment. I had hoped that I would get the sense of intrigue and emotion that the novels had, but in a non-fiction book with real characters. Instead, this book is very academic and dry. There is a lot of information, but there is nothing to truly bring you into the lives of the people. I'm having trouble bringing myself to continue reading the book.
August 5, 2023
Really great subject matter and approach. Chapter 1 about Lime Street was fantastic. Although I found it to be overall excellent, for me it loses one star because it was a bit too academic for my taste. For example, focused on what other people have said about the topic, rather than simply saying what the author actually thinks happened. I think this could be really helpful for a scholar of the topic but wasn't what I was looking for.
February 11, 2024
Deep Dive into Science in Elizabethan London
Deborah Harkness is a student of history, especially Elizabethan history.
The Jewel House is a deep dive into the science of Elizabethan London. Many of the names and some of the events and publications mentioned and cited will be familiar to those who have at least some acquaintance with the period, but the vivid and detailed pictures Harkness paints are not known to many.
This book was quite interesting and enjoyable.
Deborah Harkness is a student of history, especially Elizabethan history.
The Jewel House is a deep dive into the science of Elizabethan London. Many of the names and some of the events and publications mentioned and cited will be familiar to those who have at least some acquaintance with the period, but the vivid and detailed pictures Harkness paints are not known to many.
This book was quite interesting and enjoyable.
April 16, 2024
Very good book but, despite my interest in history, science, and politics I found I wasn't interested in the details of how medical practice was regulated in 16th century London. This is one, though, that I may eventually return to. The first part of the book about natural history and the relationships that were centered around Lime St. were fascinating: I would have finished this if the whole book were like that section.
July 31, 2019
There is a lot of interesting information in The Jewel House, but it is so disjointed and dry that I had trouble maintaining my attention. The book reads more like a series of academic essays and could probably be a lot shorter. Also at the end Harkness launches a fiery attack on Francis Bacon that comes out of nowhere and feels extremely one-sided.
February 7, 2020
An interesting way to look at an often unmentioned part of Tudor history - the beginning of the scientific revolution. I found the research very well done, and some of the features individuals were quite interesting, but it didn't really grab me. I liked this, learned some new stuff, but it's not going to be anything I'd want to go back to.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews