Ingrid D. Rowland has taught at the University of Chicago and at the American Academy in Rome. She is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and the author of several books, including The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome and The Ecstatic Journey: Athanasius Kircher in Baroque Rome.
Rowland reconstructs the whole story with flair and zest. - Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times Book Review Rowland skillfully weaves her way through this long-forgotten controversy, framing it within the cultural and political struggles between Rome and Tuscany and the larger intellectual debates of the period. At every turn she provides fascinating detail about the workings of the scholarly world.... In a mere 150 pages...she summons up a world and an age. - William Grimes, New York Times A remarkable book.... Rowland's account... has the verve of a good detective story. - Joseph Connors, New York Review of Books A fascinating, erudite book. - Spectator A dazzling piece of scholarship. - Garry Wills, New York Times Book Review