Man of Misconceptions

Like his subject, Athanasius Kircher, writer John Glassie has the rare gift of authentic quirkiness. A Man of Misconceptions leaves you contemplating the big questions, delightedly scratching your head, and laughing--all at the same time. --Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and Salt I've been waiting my entire adult life for someone to write a popular biography of the loopy, ingenious scholar-priest Athanasius Kircher, and John Glassie has delivered marvelously. A man of insatiable curiosity and staggeringly diverse intellectual passions, Kircher may have been the greatest polymath of all time--or at least the most eccentric. --Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein Glassie brings the ultimate mad professor Athanasius Kircher vividly to life, revealing him to be a kind of cross between Leonardo da Vinci and Mr. Bean. A most entertaining foray into the history of science. --Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome A marvelous insight into the mind of one of the world's most eccentric thinkers. Glassie brings Kircher to life--and what a life it is! --Adrian Tinniswood, author of The Verneys and Pirates of Barbary What a brilliant and revealing book about a fascinating character, one I had no previous knowledge about. Glassie's genius is to make Kircher and his era come alive for us centuries later in such a way that I can hear and touch him. -- Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone This fascinating biography of the Renaissance polymath Athanasius Kircher explores the birth of modern science through the life of one of the last pre-modern geniuses. -- The New Yorker [A] brisk new biography...stirring...with impressive verve and un-Kircherian concision. - The New York Times In his quirky biography of Athanasius Kircher ... Mr. Glassie uses Kircher as something of a comic foil to show how erroneous ideas about investigating nature helped lead to-