The History of Magic and Experimental Science V1

by Lynn Thorndike

1923. Volume 1 of 14. The Roman Empire and Early Christian Thought. The aim of this set is to treat the history of magic and experimental science and their relations to Christian thought during the first thirteen centuries of our era, with special emphasis upon the 12th and 13th centuries. Magic is understood under the broadest sense of the work, as including all occult arts and sciences, superstitions and folklore. The author believes that magic and experimental science have been connected in their development, and within these pages will attempt to prove the same.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Occult, Religion, Esoterica, Magic

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

Lynn Thorndike was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy.

He was the brother of the psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike and of scholar Ashley Horace Thorndike.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

All 8 volumes are excellent, but volume one is, for me, the best. Thorndike casts his scrupulous eye over such figures as Philo, Plotinus, Simon Magus, Apollonius of Tyana, Iamblichus, Origen etc etc. His writing style is surprisingly entertaining, and far from being dry and difficult, this and the other eight volumes are enjoyable to read. The level of research Thorndike must have undertaken is dizzying in its scale; a massive, and underrated piece of scholarship.

[Lhyriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very boring if I'm honest, and this is due to mainly the format. Whilst there it's lots of information there, it is presented very vaguely over large catalogues of information. It is also one of those books that leaves you remembering little of what you've read afterwards. In other words, I would rate it much higher if the author had decided to present the information in a different format.

But there is still lots to be read for those interested in this sort of subject. If you are the type to enjoy lengthy paragraphs about ancient peoples and their practices of magic, then you might enjoy this.

For the presentation of content, I rate it one star. But for the content itself (and the long years the author must have taken to find it) I rate it four stars. Hence, I give this book three.

[Joy]

Too wordy and not much information.

[Darnell]

Reading such old academic work is always a bit odd, given changing standards. No rating because I've gone too far: this is probably a good academic source, but it goes into much more detail than my interest in the topic.

[Brian Engelhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing. Ranks with The Golden Bough for those who like that sort of thing, though not quite so imposing a task. We'll see how long it takes me to get through all of them.