A review by rafaelsrh
The Secrets of Alchemy by Lawrence M. Principe

4.0

Excelente livro, muito claro e surpreendentemente profundo considerando seu comprimento. Duas citações do último capítulo que causaram uma impressão em mim:

"[...] a keen difference between modern and early modern understandings of metaphors and analogies. The modern world considers such metaphors and analogies to be creations of the human mind. For Khunrath and many of his contemporaries, they are neither arbitrary nor products of human imagination—they exist independently as real connections in the fabric of the world itself. They lie there hidden, waiting to be uncovered."

"Contemporaneous artistic productions—paintings, literary works, and music—based themselves on a love of layered meaning and allegory, meanings not found on the surface but teased out by the viewer. Educated early moderns expected multiple levels of meaning in their art, literature, and theatre, and they delighted in seeking and finding them."