Man of Misconceptions : The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change (9781101597033) (31 page)

Wedgwood, C. V.
The Thirty Years War
. New York: New York Review of Books Classics, 2005.

Wright, Jonathan.
God's Soldiers: Adventure, Politics, Intrigue, and Power— A History of the Jesuits
. New York: Doubleday, 2004.

Yates, Frances A.
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition
. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964.

INDEX

The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. To find the corresponding locations in the text of this digital version, please use the “search” function on your e-reader. Note that not all terms may be searchable

Italicized page numbers refer to illustrations.

Accademia dei Lincei, 117

acoustics and sound

cat piano, 120–21,
122

correspondence between optics and sound, 119, 253

Delphic Oracle, 147–48

doctrine of the affections, 123–24

eavesdropping tube, 120

mechanical music-writing system, 122–23

musical instruments, 119, 120–21

musical antidote for poison, 104–6

New Work on Producing Sound
(Kircher), 228

speaking trumpet, 225–28

“tone architecture,” 119–20

Universal Music-making
(Kircher), 119–24, 202, 228

alchemy, 187–90, 218–19, 254–56

Alexander VII, Pope (Fabio Chigi), 89, 150–52, 155, 170, 205–6

Apologetic Forerunner to Kircherian Studies
(Petrucci), 235–38

Aristotle, 22–24, 185, 189

Arithmologia
(Kircher), 242–43,
244

Assayer, The
(Galileo), 237–38

astronomy

helioscope, 53

Jupiter's moons, 34

moon's surface, 34–35, 150, 272–73

sunspots, 35, 53

telescopes, 34–35, 61–62, 150, 254

See also
cosmology

Avignon, 60–62

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 124

Baldigiani, Antonio, 233–34, 235, 241, 244–45

Barachias Nephi manuscript, 64, 67, 71, 81–82, 86, 142

Barberini, Cardinal Francesco

cultural projects and interests, 78–81

flight to Paris, 110

funding of Kircher's work, 85, 97

hieroglyphic translation assignment, 81–82

as judge in Galileo's trial, 68–69

and Kircher's assignment to Rome, 68, 77

and plague containment measures, 160

Bartoli, Daniello, 234

Beck, Cave, 172

Bembine Tablet, 81–82, 86, 142

Berlinski, David, 242, 243

Bernini, Gianlorenzo

Fountain of the Four Rivers, 126–30

stroke and death, 246

theatrical effects, 79

urban planning and public works projects, 151–52, 155, 205

Bien, Merga, 5

black magic, 47–48, 106, 136, 140

Blauenstein, Salomone de, 219

Blavatsky, Madame, 264–65

Bonvicini, 218–19

books, Kircher‘s

Arithmologia
, 242–43,
244

China Illustrated
, 197, 199–201, 262, 274

Coptic Forerunner
, 85–87

Ecstatic Journey
, 152–54, 156, 172, 271–72

Ecstatic Journey II
, 170–71

Examination of the Plague
, 164–69

The Great Art of Knowing
, 211–15

The Great Art of Light and Shadow
, 115–19, 130, 202, 242, 253–54

international distribution and translations, 173, 201–2

Latium
, 173–74, 223–24

The Magnet . . .
, 100–104,
105
, 107–8, 150

Magnetic Art
, 58

Magnetic Kingdom of Nature
, 198–99, 256

Maltese Observatory
, 90–91

New and Universal Polygraphy
, 172

New Work on Producing Sound
, 228

Pamphilian Obelisk
, 131, 136

Universal Music-making
, 119–24, 202, 228

See also
Egyptian Oedipus
;
Underground World

Borromini, Francesco, 127

Boyle, Robert, 179, 180, 181, 193

Brahe, Tycho, 36, 150

Bruno, Giordano, 80, 153

bubonic plague.
See
plague

cabinets of curiosity, 145

Casaubon, Isaac, 144

cat piano, 120–21,
122

Catholic Church and Catholics

Aristotelian philosophy of natural world, 22–24

condemnation of Copernicus, 23

conflict with Protestants, 3–4, 9–10, 15, 25–26, 60

Gregorian calendar, 33

initial acceptance of Galileo's findings, 35

prosecution of Galileo, 66, 83, 101

Thirty Years War, 15, 54, 57, 58–59, 132–33

witch hunts, 5, 49, 57

See also
Jesuits

catoptrics, 114, 118, 147, 254

Champollion, Jean-François, 262–63

Charlatanry of the Learned, The
(Mencken), 208

Charles II, king of England, 178–79, 180, 225

Charles II, king of Spain, 231

Chigi, Fabio (Pope Alexander VII), 89, 150–52, 155, 170, 205–6

China Illustrated
(Kircher), 197, 199–201, 262, 274

Christian, prince of Brunswick, 24–26, 27, 54

Christina, queen of Sweden, 133–34, 155–57, 207

Cicero, 152

Clavius, Christopher, 33–34, 35, 98, 273

Clement IX, Pope, 206–7

Collegio Romano

Clavius's chairmanship in mathematics, 33, 98

eavesdropping tube, 120

grandeur, 80,
81

Kircher's chairmanship in mathematics, 98–100

Kircher's dwindling reputation, 234, 235, 238

Collegio Romano museum

curiosities, 98, 114, 145–48, 240

deterioration after Kircher's death, 248–49

gallery spaces,
xv
, 146, 229–30, 240–41

Kircher's books and letters, 148–49

Cologne, 31–32, 36

Copernicus, Nicolaus, 23, 39

Coptic language and
Coptic Forerunner
(Kircher), 64, 85–87, 113, 262–63

cosmology

Earth-centered model, 22, 23

Ecstatic Journey
(Kircher), 152–54, 156, 172, 271–72

geoheliocentric model, 150

gravitational force, 250, 253, 257–59

magnetic explanation for planetary motion, 51–52, 101–2, 150, 152, 180–81, 257, 265

sun-centered model, 35–36, 39, 150, 154, 250

unseen energies, 268

De Magnete
(Gilbert), 51, 257

della Porta, Giambattista, 45–47, 51, 117

della Valle, Pietro, 85, 113, 146

Delphic Oracle, 147–48

Dernbach, Balthasar von, 4–5

Descartes, René

analytic geometry, 242

death, 134

on discovery of Jupiter's moons, 34

dismissal of Kircher and
The Magnet
, 109

interest in universal language, 172, 211–12

on Kircher's sunflower-seed material and clock, 67, 109, 218

magnetism theory, 108

material philosophy and dualism, 108, 167, 180, 263–64

as tutor to Christina of Sweden, 133–34

“Descent into the Maelström, A” (Poe), 270

doctrine of the affections, 123–24

Dream, The
(Kepler), 152–53

Dream of Scipio, The
(Cicero), 152

Earth-centered model of cosmology, 22, 23

earthquakes, 92, 94, 184–85

eavesdropping tube, 120

Eco, Umberto, 213, 271

Ecstatic Journey
(Kircher), 152–54, 156, 172, 271–72

Ecstatic Journey II
(Kircher), 170–71

Egyptian obelisks

of Fountain of the Four Rivers, 126, 127–31

Minervan fragment, 203–6, 234–35

re-erection in Rome, 55, 126–27, 205

replicas in Collegio Romano museum,
xv
, 240

St. John Lateran obelisk, 71–72

See also
hieroglyphics

Egyptian Oedipus
(Kircher)

ambitious plan for, 125

assistance with manuscript, 131–32, 135

censors' concerns, 140–41

competence and methodology of author, 139

hieroglyphic interpretations, 142–43

on mysticism and Kabbalah, 140–41

on origins of religious traditions, 136–38, 141

precursor,
Coptic Forerunner
, 85–87

precursor,
Pamphilian Obelisk
, 131, 136

publication of, 135–36

sources consulted and plagiarized, 142, 144

sponsorship, 131

See also
hieroglyphics

electromagnetism, 100, 267–68

Evelyn, John, 113–14, 178, 242

Examination of the Plague
(Kircher), 164–69

Experimental Kircherian Physiology . . .
(Kestler), 239–40

experimental method in science, 51, 165–66, 176–77, 179, 194–95, 250–51

Experiments on the Generation of Insects
(Redi), 193–95, 224

Favián, Alejandro, 202

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, 15, 68

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, 100, 131, 132, 171

Ferdinand II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 193, 224

Ficino, Marsilio, 38–39, 40, 41

Findlen, Paula, 83

Fludd, Robert, 65, 66, 102, 106

Fountain of the Four Rivers (Bernini), 126, 127–31, 185

Fracastoro, Girolamo, 168

Frederick, landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 88, 91

Fulda, 3–5, 9, 11

Galileo Galilei

astronomical discoveries, 34–35

on cabinets of curiosity, 145

Church's prosecution of, 66, 83, 101

experience of constant criticism, 237–38

on magnetism in planetary motion, 52

on magnifying lens, 117

on mathematics, 241

Gassendi, Pierre, 63, 64, 65, 105–6, 168

Geisa, 3, 5–7

geoheliocentric model of cosmology, 150

Gilbert, William, 51, 58, 101, 102, 257

Glauber, Johann, 218

gravitational force, 250, 253, 257–59, 266

Great Art, The
(Llull), 89

Great Art of Knowing, The
(Kircher), 211–15

Great Art of Light and Shadow, The
(Kircher), 115–19, 130, 202, 242, 253–54

Gregorian calendar, 33

Gustavus Adolphus, 58–59, 133

Gutenberg, Johannes, 54

Halley, Edmund, 251

Hapsburgs, 4, 15, 171, 231

healing.
See
magnetic healing

Heiligenstadt, 43–45, 47–48

helioscope, 53

Hermes Trismegistus, 38–41, 56, 136–38, 144, 255

Hevelius, Johannes, 62, 149–50

hieroglyphics

Barachias Nephi manuscript, 64, 67, 71, 81–82, 86, 142

Chinese roots, 262

and Coptic language, 64, 85–87, 113, 262

as devised by Hermes Trismegistus, 56, 138, 144

doubts about Kircher's mastery, 71–72, 83–84, 125, 207–8, 235

Horapollo text, 71

interpretation through Rosetta stone, 262–63

jokes played on Kircher, 207–8

Kircher's interest in, 55–56

obscure side of Minervan obelisk fragment, 203–6, 207

sacred wisdom in, 56, 130, 136–38, 263

translation assignments, 81–82, 230–31

See also
Egyptian obelisks;
Egyptian Oedipus
(Kircher)

Holy Roman Empire, 3–4, 88

Hooke, Robert, 179, 181–83, 256–57

Ignatius of Loyola, 9–10, 18–20, 82, 101, 211

immateriality and materiality, 40–42, 50, 65, 108, 167, 180, 257–59

In Defense of the Philosophers' Stone . . .
(Blauenstein), 219

Innocent X, Pope, 110–13, 126–27, 131

Island of the Day Before, The
(Eco), 271

Jansson, Johann, 173, 201, 235, 241

Jesuits

as educators, 9, 10–11

founding of order, 9–10

frequent reassignments of priests, 43

health of priesthood candidates, 15

humility requirement, 20, 55, 209

Kircher's embarkation on training, 13–17

Kircher's ordination, 56

missionary work, 13–14, 54

novitiate Spiritual Exercises, 18–21

priesthood training regimen, 13

Protestant campaign against, 24–26, 27

understanding of natural world, 21

Journey to the Center of the Earth, A
(Verne), 270–71

Kabbalah, 41, 89, 116, 138, 140–41, 264

Kepler, Johannes, 35–36, 52, 68, 152

Kestler, Johann, 239–40

Kircher, Athanasius

birth and childhood, 3–7

concealment of intellect, 21, 36, 37

credulity, 106, 180, 237

death and burial, 246–48

health, 14–17, 131–32, 234, 239, 243–45

influence and legacy, 262–67, 269–72

lack of humility, 20–21, 43, 55, 209, 211

letter writing, 148–49

melancholic type, 7, 53, 164

misadventures and divine interventions, 7–9, 11–13, 17, 27–30, 44–45, 69

moon crater named for, 273

reflections on course of life, 245–46

reputation, 128, 169, 202, 230, 235, 259–60

See also
specific places
;
specific topics

Klau, Christoph.
See
Clavius, Christopher

Koblenz, 36–38

Kollár, Adám Ferencz, 260

Latium
(Kircher), 173–74, 223–24

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 215–18, 243, 258–59, 261–62

Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor, 171, 210, 236

Llull, Ramon, and Llullian systems, 89–90, 123, 212–13

lodestone.
See
magnetism

Lodwick, Francis, 172

longitude at sea, 98–100

Louis XIII, 60

Louis XIV, 230

Lucretius, 168

Maggiotti, Raffaello, 83

magic

demonic, 47–48, 106, 136, 140

natural, 41–42, 45–51, 141, 146–47, 178

magic lantern, 114–15, 147

Magnet, The . . .
(Kircher), 100–104,
105
, 107–8, 150

Magnetic Art
(Kircher), 58

magnetic healing

mechanism of, 103, 162

musical antidote for venom, 104–6

for plague, 162

snake stone, 197–99, 200, 224–25, 234–35