Isidore of Seville, On the Nature of Things

by Isidore of Seville, Calvin B. Kendall (Translator), Faith Wallis (Translator)

For scholars in the European Middle Ages, Isidore, bishop of Seville (560-636) was one of the most influential authorities for understanding he natural world. Isidore's On the Nature of Things is the first work on natural science by a Christian author that is not a commentary on the creation story in Genesis. Instead, Isidore adopted a classical model to describe the structure of the physical cosmos, and discuss the principles of astronomy, physics, geography, meteorology and time-reckoning. Into this framework he incorporated an eclectic array of ancient and patristic erudition. The fact that On the Nature of Things presents an essentially Greco-Roman picture of the universe, but amplified with Christian reflections and allegories, played a crucial role in the assimilation of ancient science into the emerging culture of the Middle Ages. It exerted a deep and long-lasting influence on scholars like Bede, one of whose earliest works was an adaptation of On the Nature of Things.
On the Nature of Things provides a new window into vital intellectual currents, as yet largely unexplored, flowing from Visigothic Spain into Celtic Ireland, Anglo-Saxon England, and Merovingian France. This is the first translation of this work into English. The introduction places the work in the context of Isidore's milieu and concerns, and traces the remarkable diffusion of his book. A chapter-by-chapter commentary explains how Isidore selected and transformed his source material, and added his own distinctive features, notably the diagrams that gave this work its medieval name The Book of Wheels (Liber rotarum).

Genres: Philosophy

304 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2016

About the author

Isidoro de Sevilla fue un eclesiástico católico erudito polímata hispano de la época visigoda. Fue arzobispo de Sevilla durante más de tres décadas. Es venerado como santo por la Iglesia católica y contado entre los Padres de la Iglesia. También es uno de los Cuatro Santos de Cartagena.


Saint Isidore of Seville (Latin: Isidorus Hispalensis; c.560 - 636) served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the 19th-century historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "The last scholar of the ancient world".

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encyclopedists like Isidore of Seville (which also included Cassiodorus, Boethius, Martianus Capella, Bede, Calcidius and Macrobius) wound up being the go-to repositories of philosophical and scientific knowledge for the later scholastics. They were also the intermediaries for Greek thought when knowledge of the Greek language was on the wane. We certainly owe them a debt of gratitude for composing works that, although not entirely original, were compendiums of the knowledge that had accumulated for centuries; usually these categories of knowledge were labeled the quadrivium and the trivium. Everything from physics to metaphysics were addressed in these works. They were also often accompanied with diagrams to aid contemplation.

Reading these works is highly engaging for me. Since they often move from one subject to another, one is not left feeling overly bored. Isidore didn't quite grab me like Macrobius and Calcidius did, but this was still a great book to read. He doesn't just recapitulate ideas found in those writers either, he adds quite a bit from the various church fathers and other obscure sources that those writers didn't use. This is definitely worth reading and recommending. Isidore is known more for his Etymologies, but I chose this work because the subject matter struck me as being a little more practical and interesting. I wasn't disappointed.