Natural Magic

One of the most remarkable works of the Renaissance, Natural Magic is Giambattista della Porta's vast inquiry into the concealed forces, affinities, transformations, and wonders of the natural world.Across twenty books, Della Porta examines plants, animals, metals, magnetism, optics, distillation, cosmetics, invisible writing, fire, mechanical devices, and countless other phenomena. Yet his "e;magic"e; is not demonic or superstitious. It is the practical culmination of natural philosophy: the disciplined art of discovering how nature operates and how its hidden powers may be reproduced through observation, experiment, and technical skill.Drawing on ancient authorities, medieval learning, direct experience, and the experimental culture of the sixteenth century, Della Porta created a work that stands at the threshold between Renaissance occult philosophy and modern science. Encyclopedic, theatrical, ingenious, and often astonishing, Natural Magic reveals a world in which knowledge is inseparable from practice and wonder remains a legitimate path to understanding.This new English edition presents a foundational text in the history of science, magic, and European intellectual culture.