THE AGE OF GENIUS THE AGE OF GENIUS The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind A. C. Grayling To the first graduating cohort of NCH: anima cultura gaudere History is philosophy teaching by examples Thucydides Non est ad astra mollis e terris via Seneca CONTENTS Map PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Seeing the Universe 2 The Epoch in Human History PART II: A TIME OF WARS 3 The Origins of the Wars 4 The Loss of the Palatinate 5 The Mercenary Captains 6 The Edict of Restitution, 1629 7 The Swedish Apogee 8 From Wallenstein to Breisach 9 Towards Westphalia 10 In the Ruins of Europe 11 The Maritime Conflicts PART III: THE CUMULATION OF IDEAS 12 The Intelligencers 13 The Short Ways to Knowledge 14 Dr Dee and the Potent Art 15 The Rosicrucian Scare PART IV: FROM MAGIC TO SCIENCE 16 From Magic to Method 17 The Birth of Science 18 War and Science PART V: THE SOCIAL ORDER 19 Society and Politics 20 Language and Belief PART VI: CONCLUSION 21 Is It a Myth? Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments A Note on the Author By the Same Author Plate Section