Athanasius Kircher's theatre of the world

the life and work of the last man to search for universal knowledge

by Joscelyn Godwin

2009 304 pages eng

n the 17th century Athanasius Kircher was a phenomenon. In the 21st he has become a cult. He had an extraordinary imagination, comparable to the most avant-garde modern artist, even (or often especially) when he was wrong. By profession a Jesuit priest, he made himself an authority on almost ever…