A Man of Misconceptions

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{{short description|Biography of Athanasius Kircher by John Glassie}}{{Infobox book

| image = A Man of Misconceptions.jpg

| author = John Glassie

| isbn = 978-1594488719

| pub_date = 2012

| caption = First edition cover

| published = Riverhead Books

}}

{{italic title}}

A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change is a biography written by John Glassie about Athanasius Kircher, a 17th-century German Jesuit scholar, scientist, author, and inventor. Published by Riverhead Books in 2012, it is regarded by The New York Times as the first general-interest biography of Kircher, who has experienced a resurgence of academic attention in recent decades.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/books/a-man-of-misconceptions-by-john-glassie.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=A 17th-Century Genius, a Quack, or Perhaps Both|accessdate=2014-05-14}}

The book traces Kircher's life from his birth in 1602 in Germany through his rise as a scholar at the Jesuit Collegio Romano to the decline of his reputation and his death in Rome in 1680. After Kircher arrived in Rome in 1633, a few months after the Galileo trial, he pursued myriad interests, authoring more than thirty books{{cite web |url=http://www.unilu.ch/eng/werke-von-athanasius-kircher-im-internet_269856.html |title=Werke von Athanasius Kircher im Internet – Universität Luzern |publisher=Unilu.ch |date=14 January 2014 |accessdate=2014-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514192844/http://www.unilu.ch/eng/werke-von-athanasius-kircher-im-internet_269856.html |archive-date=2014-05-14 |url-status=dead }} on such subjects as optics, magnetism, music, medicine, and mathematics, and developing a collection of natural specimens and curiosities into a well known Cabinet of Curiosities or early modern museum.John Glassie: A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change. New York, Riverhead, 2012, p 145-150 He also worked with Gianlorenzo Bernini on his Fountain of the Four Rivers in the Piazza NavonaGlassie, p 134 and labored for many years on the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. The book places Kircher's work and his interest in natural magic and mysticism within the context of the Scientific Revolution. Glassie draws connections between Kircher and 17th-century figures such as René Descartes,Glassie, p 67, 107–109 Gottfried Leibniz,Glassie, p 215-218, 261–262 and Isaac Newton.Glassie, p 250-260 He also illustrates later influences on Edgar Allan Poe, Jules Verne, Madame Blavatsky, and Marcel Duchamp.Glassie, p 264-271

Reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/books/review/a-man-of-misconceptions-by-john-glassie.html |title=The New York Times Book Review: "Mistakes? He Made a Few"|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=2014-05-14}} The New Yorker,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/brieflynoted/2012/12/17/121217crbn_brieflynoted3 |title=John Glassie's "A Man of Misconceptions" Review |magazine=The New Yorker |date= 9 December 2012|accessdate=2014-05-14}} The Wall Street Journal,{{cite web|last=Snyder |first=Laura J. |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324705104578151610159393362 |title=Book Review: Before Galileo | A Man of Misconceptions | The Secrets of Alchemy - WSJ.com |publisher=Online.wsj.com |date=4 January 2013 |accessdate=2014-05-14}} The Nation,{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/173649/kirchers-cosmos-athanasius-kircher#axzz2c3giiimX |title=Kircher's Cosmos: On Athanasius Kircher |publisher=The Nation |date=3 April 2013 |accessdate=2014-05-14}} The Daily Beast{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/07/this-week-s-hot-reads-november-6-2012.html |title=This Week's Hot Reads: November 6, 2012 |publisher=The Daily Beast |date=6 November 2012 |accessdate=2014-05-14}} and a number of other media outlets. Glassie has appeared on the NPR shows All Things Considered{{cite web|last=Glassie |first=John |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/11/18/165232992/a-far-out-and-forgotten-renaissance-man |title=Interview: John Glassie, Author Of 'A Man Of Misconceptions' |publisher=NPR |date=18 November 2012 |accessdate=2014-05-14}} and Science Friday{{cite web |author=John Glassie |url=http://sciencefriday.com/segment/12/28/2012/the-renaissance-man-who-got-it-all-wrong.html |title=The Renaissance Man Who Got It All Wrong |publisher=Sciencefriday.com |date=28 December 2012 |accessdate=2014-05-14 |archive-date=2014-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515170358/http://sciencefriday.com/segment/12/28/2012/the-renaissance-man-who-got-it-all-wrong.html |url-status=dead }} as well as on C-SPAN2's BookTV{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?313184-8/book-discussion-man-misconceptions-inventor-tycoon |title=Book Parties and Festivals – 2013 Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest: John Glassie, author of "A Man of Misconceptions," and Edward Ball, author of "The Inventor and the Tycoon" |publisher=BookTV |date= |accessdate=2015-03-27}} to discuss the biography. A Man of Misconceptions was selected as a New York Times Book Review "Editor's Choice."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/books/review/editors-choice.html|title=Editor's Choice : A Man of Misconceptions : The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change, by John Glassie. (Riverhead, $26.95.) |newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=2014-05-14}} It was named one of the best science books of 2012 by Jennifer Ouellette, a writer for Scientific American,{{cite web|last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/2012/12/20/bakers-dozen-sampling-the-best-science-books-of-2012/ |title=Baker's Dozen: Sampling the Best Science Books of 2012 | Cocktail Party Physics, Scientific American Blog Network |publisher=Blogs.scientificamerican.com |date= |accessdate=2014-05-14}} and included in an Atlantic Wire article "The Books We Loved in 2012."{{cite web |last=Sims |first=David |url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/12/best-books-2012/59869/ |title=The Books We Loved in 2012 – The Wire |publisher=Theatlanticwire.com |date=13 December 2012 |accessdate=2014-05-14 |archive-date=2013-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013143347/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/12/best-books-2012/59869/ |url-status=dead }}