In this book the author transports readers to the dawn of the Renaissance and chronicles the life of an intrepid book lover who rescued the Roman philosophical text On the Nature of Things from certain oblivion. In this work he has crafted both a work of history and a story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it. Nearly six hundred...

"'Renaissance' means 'rebirth' in French. The Renaissance period of European history is aptly named because people had a rebirth, or renewed, interest in the ideas of ancient Greeks and Romans. This led to a new age of science and art. Readers will learn about the many aspects of the Renaissance as well as the prominent figures of this era, including Nicolaus Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci, and others. A timeline helps summarize the crucial dates of...

In 1480, Florentine investigator Guid' Antonio Vespucci and his nephew, Amerigo, are entangled in events that threaten to destroy them and their beloved city. Marauding Turks abduct a beautiful young Florentine girl and sell her into slavery. Then a holy painting in Guid' Antonio's family church begins to weep. Following a spellbinding trail of clues, Guid' Antonio pursues the truth about the missing girl and the painting's mystifying tears.

Who were the artists of the Renaissance? Why do we still learn from Renaissance art? Using an inquiry-based approach, readers are introduced to the Italian Renaissance as it was experienced by five of the world's most renowned artists: Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. Readers will learn about the biographies of these Renaissance artists through the perspective of three to four major works of art that not only...

Published in 1873, Studies in the History of the Renaissance is considered one of the most influential works in the field of aestheticism. The book is a collection of essays that explore various artists of the Renaissance period, focusing primarily on the art, culture and philosophy of the time. In the Studies, Pater celebrates the pursuit of beauty and the sensual pleasures it brings, advocating the appreciation of art as a means of self-discovery...

"The Renaissance is celebrated for the belief that individuals could fashion themselves to greatness, but, as Mackenzie Cooley uncovers in this timely book, there is a dark parallel to this fêted era. Those same men and women who were offering profound advancements in our understanding of the human condition-and laying the foundations of the Scientific Revolution-were also obsessed with controlling that condition and the wider natural world. Cooley...

Who were the Renaissance scientists and philosophers? In The Renaissance Thinkers with History Projects for Kids, kids ages 10 through 15 meet five famous Renaissance thinkers, including Filippo Brunelleschi, Machiavelli, Copernicus, Thomas More, and Francis Bacon while engaging in hands-on STEAM activities that incorporate the scientific method and the engineer design process to build critical and creative thinking skills. Discover the brilliant...

"Today few would think of astronomy and astrology as fields related to theology. Fewer still would know that physically absorbing planetary rays was once considered to have medical and psychological effects. But this was the understanding of light radiation held by certain natural philosophers of early modern Europe, and that, argues Mary Quinlan-McGrath, was why educated people of the Renaissance commissioned artworks centered on astrological themes...

We tend to think of rhetoric as a solely human art. After all, only humans can use language artfully to make a point, the very definition of rhetoric. Yet when you look at ancient and early modern treatises on rhetoric, what you find is surprising: they're crawling with animals. With Rhetoric in Tooth and Claw, Debra Hawhee explores this unexpected aspect of early thinking about rhetoric, going on from there to examine the enduring presence of nonhuman...

Book 2 in the Dion Chronicles Reunited with the family she left behind as a child, Dion Holyhands finds her cherished homeland of Moira overrun by marauding Witch Hunters and dreaded Fire Angels. She soon realizes that she must use her incredible powers to help save her land and its people from the grip of the Great Destroyer. Thrust in a morass of court intrigue, political conspiracy and furious passion, Dion is forced to confront the deadly but...