Spirits airy, volatile subtle bodies' occupied a central place in early modern European culture. At the edge of the visible and perceptible, "spiritus" could signify a broad variety of subtle substances, both natural and divine: the vapours moving inside the body, the elements of air and fire, angels, demons and spectres, the Holy Spirit and the human soul. Spirits functioned as intermediaries between two opposite worlds with continually shifting borders. This book investigates specific meanings and uses of "spiritus" in a variety of early modern disciplines and fields physiology, psychology,...

The contributors to Making of Copernicus examine by the study of particular examples how some of the myths surrounding Copernicus came about and whether they have held their validity or have vanished altogether. Are there links between a real or postulated transformation of images of the world and the application of metaphors in science, especially the metaphor of scientific revolution? What were the interactions and conflations in science and literature that led to Copernicus being set on a pedestal or being cast down from it, and how did they come about? Is there on the other hand...