内容简介

　　“中世纪是智力停滞、迷信和无知的时代”——这是被现代学术界完全否定的神话，如果没有中世纪学者的贡献，伽利略、牛顿、科学革命都不会出现。很多关于中世纪的说法并非事实，比如，中世纪的人并不认为地球是平的，而哥伦布也没有“证明”它是一个球体；宗教法庭并未因任何人的科学思想或发现而将其烧死，事实上教会是科学研究的主要赞助者，甚至若干位教皇以对科学的了解而闻名；哥白尼不惧迫害；教皇也没有试图禁止人体解剖；宗教裁判所对伽利略的著名审判是关于政治，而非关于科学。中世纪是个在智识上高歌猛进的时代，基督教和伊斯兰教的影响促成了科学进步，带来的成就远超古典世界，在技术上也取得了很多成果。欧洲人独立发明了眼镜、机械钟、风车和高炉，工匠和科学家将东方传来的印刷术、火药和指南针改进到了超越其发明者想象的水平。透镜与相机，以及几乎所有类型的机器以及工业革命本身，都可以追溯到中世纪被遗忘的发明家。

　　本书集中描述一段跨越六个世纪的史诗之旅，回顾了让·布里丹、尼科尔·奥雷姆、托马斯·布拉德沃丁等被忽视的天才们的发现，并将罗吉尔·培根、奥卡姆的威廉、托马斯·阿奎那等更为人熟知的人物的贡献带入历史语境。

　　中世纪是一个不乏发明和创新的时代。现代科学技术与所谓“黑暗”中世纪的关系，比我们所知的更有渊源。

　　作者简介

　　詹姆斯·汉南（James Hannam），牛津大学物理学学士、伦敦伯克贝克学院历史学硕士、剑桥大学科学史和科学哲学博士，对科学史满怀热情，为各种报刊撰稿。《科学的起源》是他献给大众的通俗作品，2010年入围英国皇家学会科学图书奖。

　　刘崇岭（译者），辽宁大学俄语语言文学硕士，现为英语和俄语自由译者。

Content introduction

"The Middle Ages were a time of intellectual stagnation, superstition and ignorance" - this is a myth completely rejected by modern academia, without the contributions of medieval scholars, Galileo, Newton, and the scientific revolution would not have occurred. For example, medieval people did not think the earth was flat, and Columbus did not "prove" that it was a sphere. The Inquisition did not burn anyone for their scientific ideas or discoveries; in fact, the Church was a major sponsor of scientific research, and several popes were noted for their knowledge of science; Copernicus did not fear persecution; Nor did the Pope try to ban human dissection; The famous trial of Galileo at the Inquisition was about politics, not science. The Middle Ages was a time of great intellectual progress, with Christian and Islamic influences contributing to scientific advances far beyond those of the classical world, as well as technological achievements. Europeans independently invented eyeglasses, mechanical clocks, windmills and blast furnaces, and craftsmen and scientists improved printing, gunpowder and the compass from the East beyond what their inventors could have imagined. Lenses and cameras, as well as almost all types of machines and the industrial revolution itself, can be traced back to the forgotten inventors of the Middle Ages.

An epic journey spanning six centuries, this book reviews the discoveries of overlooked geniuses such as Jean Buridan, Nicole Orem, and Thomas Bradwading, and puts the contributions of more familiar figures such as Rogier Bacon, William of Ockham, and Thomas Aquinas into historical context.

The Middle Ages was a time of invention and innovation. Modern science and technology have more to do with the so-called "dark" Middle Ages than we realize.

About the author

James Hannam holds a BA in Physics from the University of Oxford, an MA in History from Birkbeck College, London, and a PhD in the history of Science and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge. He is passionate about the history of science and has written for a variety of newspapers. The Origins of Science, his popular work for the general public, was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize in 2010.

Liu Chongling (translator), Master of Arts in Russian Language and literature from Liaoning University, is now a freelance translator in English and Russian.