The Swerve, How the Renaissance Began by Stephen Greenblatt
The Swerve, How the Renaissance Began by Stephen Greenblatt
As a student, the author (now a Harvard professor) discovers a translation of 2000-year-old poem by Lucretius which describes ‘an infinite number of random atoms’ as the basis for life and the universe without need for God or gods. The re-emergence of this radical idea in the 15th century fuelled the social evolution known as the Renaissance, inspiring its many creators, artists and scientists. A deeply researched and thrilling exploration of this process.