Pseudodoxia Epidemica; or, Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths.
Item
-
Title
-
Pseudodoxia Epidemica; or, Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths.
-
Description
-
1646, First Edition, second state.
Sir Thomas "Browne is one of very great English stylists. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. Often referred to as "Browne's Vulgar Errors," Browne drew upon his many years of reading, observation and experimental investigation to refute popular misconceptions in the fields of history, folklore, science, philology, natural history, medicine and embryology. Browne conducted numerous experiments in physics, comparative anatomy and biology, many of which were reported in Pseudodoxia epidemica; he also coined the term "electricity" (first printed here, found on page 51) to describe certain electromagnetic phenomena. "Except in matters of religious faith, [Browne] was unwilling to accept anything without carefully examining it in the light of such facts as he could gather. He has thus expressed himself regarding his own attitude: 'In philosophy, where truth seems double-faced, there is no man more paradoxical than myself, but in divinity, I love to keep to the road'" (Keynes, p. 51).”
Also held in the collection is the Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged, which is said to be scarcer than the first edition and typographically superior. This second edition was extensively revised and enlarged by the author.
(Abebook.com book sellers)
Held in the Rare Books collection {PR3327 .A71646}
