Science and the Supernatural in the 17th Century

Distillations | Science History Institute

Most of us are familiar with the achievements of Galileo and Newton, but who were their peers? And what was it like to practice science in the 16th and 17th centuries? Come geek out with us as we travel back in time and explore what the world was like when science and the supernatural were not so far apart.

We talk to two historians of science, Deborah Harkness and James Voelkel. Harkness is the author of The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution as well asthe All Soul’s Trilogy, a popular fantasy series filled with witches, vampires, demons, scientists, and historians. Voelkel is the curator of rare books at CHF and an expert on Johannes Kepler, a 17th-century astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer.

Though we were unable to time travel for this show (much to our dismay), we did get to visit the Making and Knowing Project’s laboratory at Columbia University, where a group of historians of science are reconstructing a 16th-century workshop and re-creating recipes from an anonymous craftsperson’s manuscript. And we made this video.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:05 Introduction

01:10 Interview with Deborah Harkness and James Voelkel

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

Guests: Deborah Harkness and James Voelkel

Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

Music courtesy of the Audio Network.