One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius-a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions. The …
One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius-a beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions. The copying and translation of this ancient book-the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age-fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson. - Publisher.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
At worst, this is a good introduction to ancient western philosophy, enough to stir interest in some of those old Greek and Roman stories you've managed to catch here and there.
Middle ground for why you might read this is simply for love of history.
I loved it for the above two reasons and because I am a little bit of a book snob, much like the main character, Poggio -a Humanist of the fifteenth century, was. Loved the hunt, the repercussions, the drama with religion and how, compared to when "On The Nature Of Things" was written, the theory of atoms in the mainstream seem to be so very recent.
Not a good choice if this is the first book you've read in years.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Atoms and void. The Universe consists of nothing but atoms and void. The atoms move deterministically, but occasionally take a random turn, or swerve, leading to new things. All things come from atoms and to atoms they eventually return. That is a summary of Epicurean physics, as captured by Lucretius in his work De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), over two thousand years ago. When it was rediscovered in the 15th century, its ideas were subversive, and those who held similar ideas were subjected to the Inquisition or torture, or burned at the stake. Greenblatt's summary of Lucretius's epic poem depicts it as a humanist masterpiece, still resonating today with modern philosophy and science, and still perhaps capable of swerving humanity away from the darkness of superstition. His depiction of Italy during the 15th century is particularly bleak prior to the Renaissance taking hold, with the Catholic church …
Atoms and void. The Universe consists of nothing but atoms and void. The atoms move deterministically, but occasionally take a random turn, or swerve, leading to new things. All things come from atoms and to atoms they eventually return. That is a summary of Epicurean physics, as captured by Lucretius in his work De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), over two thousand years ago. When it was rediscovered in the 15th century, its ideas were subversive, and those who held similar ideas were subjected to the Inquisition or torture, or burned at the stake. Greenblatt's summary of Lucretius's epic poem depicts it as a humanist masterpiece, still resonating today with modern philosophy and science, and still perhaps capable of swerving humanity away from the darkness of superstition. His depiction of Italy during the 15th century is particularly bleak prior to the Renaissance taking hold, with the Catholic church perpetrating barbaric acts of violence and suppression in the name of perpetuating religious dogma, and in reaction to the new truths revealed by the likes of Galileo and inspired by the return of classical literature. He takes pains to admit that despite his book's title, the modern world is not due to one work only, but Lucretius had profound influence, including on at least one of the American founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson.
I found that reading the book was somewhat like watching an extended episode of Cosmos, fascinating and enlightening, and leaving one hungering for more. I now want to read Lucretius.
Stephen Greenblatt provides an interesting synthesis of history and philosophy. Greenblatt's love of the humanities certainly shines through. This stands as an almost over-exciting commercial for not only reading Lucretius's "De Rerum Natura," but in motivating the reader to actually go out to learn Latin to appreciate it properly.
I would have loved more direct analysis and evidence of the immediate impact of Lucretius in the 1400's as well as a longer in-depth analysis of the continuing impact through the 1700's.
The first half of the book is excellent at painting a vivid portrait of the life and times of Poggio Bracciolini which one doesn't commonly encounter. I'm almost reminded of Stacy Schiff's [b:Cleopatra: A Life|7968243|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1294098301s/7968243.jpg|12020129], though Greenblatt has far more historical material with which to paint the picture. I may also be biased that I'm more interested in the mechanics of the scholarship of the resurgence …
Stephen Greenblatt provides an interesting synthesis of history and philosophy. Greenblatt's love of the humanities certainly shines through. This stands as an almost over-exciting commercial for not only reading Lucretius's "De Rerum Natura," but in motivating the reader to actually go out to learn Latin to appreciate it properly.
I would have loved more direct analysis and evidence of the immediate impact of Lucretius in the 1400's as well as a longer in-depth analysis of the continuing impact through the 1700's.
The first half of the book is excellent at painting a vivid portrait of the life and times of Poggio Bracciolini which one doesn't commonly encounter. I'm almost reminded of Stacy Schiff's [b:Cleopatra: A Life|7968243|Cleopatra A Life|Stacy Schiff|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1294098301s/7968243.jpg|12020129], though Greenblatt has far more historical material with which to paint the picture. I may also be biased that I'm more interested in the mechanics of the scholarship of the resurgence of the classics in the Renaissance than I was of that particular political portion of the first century BCE. Though my background on the history of the time periods involved is reasonably advanced, I fear that Greenblatt may be leaving out a tad too much for the broader reading public who may not be so well versed. The fact that he does bring so many clear specifics to the forefront may more than compensate for this however.
In some interesting respects, this could be considered the humanities counterpart to the more science-centric story of Owen Gingerich's [b:The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus|1188644|The Book Nobody Read Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus|Owen Gingerich|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403850790s/1188644.jpg|959075]. Though [a:Simon Winchester|14053|Simon Winchester|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1286848563p2/14053.jpg] is still by far my favorite nonfiction writer, Greenblatt does an exceedingly good job of narrating what isn't necessarily a very linear story.
Greenblatt includes lots of interesting tidbits and some great history. I wish it had continued on longer... I'd love to have the spare time to lose myself in the extensive bibliography. Though the footnotes, bibliography, and index account for about 40% of the book, the average reader should take a reasonable look at the quarter or so of the footnotes which add some interesting additional background an subtleties to the text as well as to some of the translations that are discussed therein.
I am definitely very interested in the science behind textual preservation which is presented as the underlying motivation for the action in this book. I wish that Greenblatt had covered some of these aspects in the same vivid detail he exhibited for other portions of the story. Perhaps summarizing some more of the relevant scholarship involved in transmitting and restoring old texts as presented in Bart Ehrman and Bruce Metzter's [b:The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption & Restoration|240196|The Text of the New Testament Its Transmission, Corruption & Restoration|Bruce M. Metzger|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388535910s/240196.jpg|232680] would have been a welcome addition given the audience of the book. It might also have presented a more nuanced picture of the character of the Church and their predicament presented in the text as well.
Though I only caught one small reference to modern day politics (a prison statistic for America which was obscured in a footnote), I find myself wishing that Greenblatt had spent at least a few paragraphs or even a short chapter drawing direct parallels to our present-day political landscape. I understand why he didn't broach the subject as it would tend to date an otherwise timeless feeling text and generally serve to dissuade a portion of his readership and in particular, the portion which most needs to read such a book. I can certainly see a strong need for having another short burst of popularity for "On the Nature of Things" to assist with the anti-science and overly pro-religion climate we're facing in American politics.
For those interested in the topic, I might suggest that this text has some flavor of Big History in its DNA. It covers not only a fairly significant chunk of recorded human history, but has some broader influential philosophical themes that underlie a potential change in the direction of history which we've been living for the past 300 years. There's also an intriguing overlap of multidisciplinary studies going on in terms of the history, science, philosophy, and technology involved in the multiple time periods discussed.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
An interesting tour through the middle ages that explains how rare manuscript collectors pushed Europe into the renaissance. Also interesting for all the sexy gossip on the ancient Vatican.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
An interesting enough read, I suppose. In reading non-fiction I like to be able to discern an overarching thesis, and I like to be able to see how each chapter/section contributes to that thesis, or at least the narrative that supports that thesis. And I don't see that here the result being that I walk away from this book feeling like I've read a lot of stuff, but not learnt anything except that there was this book that caused a lot of trouble in Europe in the 15th century.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The Kindle version of the book contains photo credits, but no photos. Otherwise, an interesting, and rambling, discussion of De rerum natura, its rediscovery and supposed consequences. The author is the scholar, not me, but it is hard to believe that the renaissance, the enlightenment, Thomas Jefferson and modern science are all so dependent on this poem.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A fun little history book, but the subtitle is misleading. This is primarily about Lucretius's poem (as an artifact, not a surrey of the contents), secondarily about the suppression and reemergence of Epicurean philosophy, and not really about the downstream influences.
Review of 'The Swerve: How the World Became Modern' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Greenblatt possibly oversells the plotline of his historical thriller, but regardless, the narrative he weaves is well-written prose and the historical background interesting. It made me want to read more about Epicurus.