Review by Choice Review
Falk (Univ. of Cambridge) makes a compelling case that contrary to popular belief Europe during the so-called Dark Ages was host to much activity in science, especially astronomy. That science was practiced largely by monks, who needed to determine the time accurately throughout the day-night cycle so that prayers might be said at the prescribed times. For this purpose they made sightings of stars and planets (the latter were considered to include the Sun and Moon). Some also practiced astrology, then considered a science (although a less reliable one) and used, e.g., to suggest when medical procedures would best be performed. They computed and corrected tables of astronomical data and developed or improved instruments for star sightings and computing. The central figure in Falk's exposition is John of Westwyck, an English monk and crusader who devised a bigger and better equatorium--a device for analog computations of planetary positions. Westwyck's detailed instructions for building the device, including tables of ancillary data, remained simply a parchment plan for centuries until 1952, when a wooden model six feet wide was built to his specifications, displayed in a museum, then stored, unidentified and mislabeled, until Falk discovered and identified it in 2012. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Stephen P Maran, American Astronomical Society
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Falk, historian at Cambridge University, makes an auspicious if occasionally hard-going debut with this look at the "scientific life of an unknown monk" in 14th-century England. The cleric, John Westwyk, is known only through a handful of obscure manuscripts dealing with the creation of astronomical tables and instruments. Nonetheless, Falk skillfully uses Westwyk as a vehicle to explore the nature of medieval science, arriving at a number of somewhat surprising conclusions. He argues that medieval Christianity, rather than blocking intellectual progress, "took support from science--and, in turn, spurred its progress"; that the denizens of English monasteries, far from being isolated, were "profoundly influenced" by an "international scientific fraternity of Jews and Muslims, Italians and Germans"; and that the period's healthy scientific debates contradict the "stereotype of the Middle Ages as an era of scholastic conformity." He also explains that the "study of the natural world was a fundamental part of medieval life," and that despite settling on many incorrect answers, medieval scholars made significant advances. Falk spends a great deal of time demonstrating the complex mathematics used to understand astronomical patterns and may lose some of his audience in the process. Nonetheless, his enthusiastically delivered study will entrance those fascinated by the history of science or the Middle Ages. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Falk (medieval history, history of science, Cambridge Univ.) uses his debut book to share his fascination with the development of science in the Middle Ages. His title emphasizes that the Middle Ages were not the Dark Ages, but rather a time of scientific wonder and discovery. By following the life of one particular monk through the manuscripts he copied, edited, and wrote, Falk illustrates how medieval monks sought to understand and order their world, incorporating knowledge from classical Greece and Rome, as well as from Islamic and Far Eastern scholars. His representative monk, John of Westwyk, lived in the 14th century and began his vocation at St. Albans in England. He studied and wrote about scientific instruments, among them the astrolabe. He traveled from St. Albans to Tynemouth and eventually went on a crusade. Falk fills his book with photos of medieval manuscripts and astronomical instruments, and explanations of how the instruments worked. While some of the explanations may be difficult to follow for a nonmathematician, Falk's obvious respect for monks and their work shines through every page and is infectious. VERDICT Offering a window into the world of medieval monks, this will appeal to lovers of scientific history.--Caren Nichter, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Expert account of the medieval era's scientific developments. A broadcaster, historian, and lecturer at Cambridge, Falk reminds us that scholars no longer consider the centuries after the fall of Rome as the Dark Ages. Rather, "the medieval reality…is a Light Age of scientific interest and inquiry." The author concentrates on Europe, where literacy was a church monopoly largely confined to monasteries. The greatest of these were wealthy institutions with branches, libraries, and schools whose scholars took part in an international community, which also included Muslims and Jews. Eschewing historical superstars--Roger Bacon makes a few appearances--Falk builds a story around John Westwyk, an obscure 14th-century monk who composed (or most likely copied) manuscripts on astronomical instruments, designed and built others, and traveled widely, making observations along the way. The author makes a convincing case that medieval times produced major advances in technology, mathematics, and education as well as some correct but many more fanciful explanations of natural phenomenon. Important inventions included spectacles, the compass, and Arabic numerals, but almost all of what passed for research confined itself to a single field: astronomy, which had always included astrology and would do so well into the Enlightenment. Fascinated by the heavens, medieval researchers produced precise descriptions of its movements and detected the minuscule variations in the earthly day and year. Much of this was in the service of astrology and the timing of holy days, but it had genuinely practical use in the creation of calendars. Although lacking telescopes, they designed exquisitely complex clocks and astronomical instruments--astrolabes, armillary spheres, equatoriums--that were both impressively accurate and works of art. Falk excels at bringing alive the personalities, theological doctrines, cosmology, and often cutthroat monastery politics of the era, but most readers will prefer to skim the lengthy descriptions of the construction and operation of medieval astronomical devices. An impressive chronicle of human progress. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
