Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Natural Philosophy and Wonder
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Texts
A Letter to a FriendSir Thomas Browne's meditation on the death of a friend, blending medical observation with philosophical counsel on mortality, virtue, and the brevity of life.Hydriotaphia, or Urn-BurialBrowne's meditation on death, burial, and the vanity of monuments — prompted by the discovery of ancient funeral urns in Norfolk. One of the greatest prose works in English. Published 1658.Observations upon Experimental PhilosophyMargaret Cavendish's natural philosophy — a systematic critique of experimental science and defense of rational speculation (1666)Pseudodoxia EpidemicaSir Thomas Browne's encyclopedia of popular errors — a magnificent seventeenth-century examination of every false belief from whether crystal is frozen ice to whether elephants lack joints. First published 1646.The Blazing WorldOne of the earliest works of science fiction in English — a woman enters a world at the North Pole populated by hybrid creatures and becomes their Empress. Written by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, in 1666.The Discovery of a World in the MooneJohn Wilkins's 1638 treatise arguing that the moon is a habitable world — one of the first works of popular science in English, written by the future Bishop of Chester and co-founder of the Royal Society.The Garden of CyrusSir Thomas Browne's meditation on the quincuncial pattern in nature, art, and the cosmos — the companion volume to Urn-Burial (1658).The Mysteryes of Nature and ArtJohn Bate's 1634 handbook of practical wonders — water engines, fireworks, painting, etching, medicines, and the magnificent experiments of an Elizabethan maker.