The Age of Genius explores the eventful intertwining of outward event
and inner intellectual life to tell, in all its richness and depth, the
story of the 17th century in Europe. It was a time of creativity
unparalleled in history before or since, from science to the arts, from
philosophy to politics.
Acclaimed philosopher and historian A. C. Grayling points to three
primary factors that led to the rise of vernacular (popular) languages
in philosophy, theology, science, and literature; the rise of the
individual as a general and not merely an aristocratic type; and the
invention and application of instruments and measurement in the study of
the natural world.
Grayling vividly reconstructs this unprecedented era and breathes new
life into the major figures of the 17th century intelligentsia who
spanned literature, music, science, art, and philosophy--Shakespeare,
Monteverdi, Galileo, Rembrandt, Locke, Newton, Descartes, Vermeer,
Hobbes, Milton, and Cervantes, among many more. During this century, a
fundamentally new way of perceiving the world emerged as reason rose to
prominence over tradition, and the rights of the individual took center
stage in philosophy and politics--a paradigmatic shift that would define
Western thought for centuries to come.
