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When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our ...

Black madonna: a country doctor -- The metal makers: learning the arts -- The universal scholar: a Renaissance education -- The staff and the snake: healing in the early renaissance -- Intellectual ...

One has to admire Philip Ball's courageous undertaking in writing a biography of Paracelsus, arguably the most controversial medical writer in the Renaissance. Not only are the works of Paracelsus' ...

If one really wants to understand the contradictions and "intellectual ferment" of the 16th century, says Ball, one should look not at Luther or Copernicus, but at the much-maligned Paracelsus. Born ...