Questions concerning Aristotle's On Animals

by Albertus Magnus, Irven M. Resnick (Translator), Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr. (Translator)

After the Latin translation of Aristotelian works outside the logica vetus began in earnest in twelfth-century Spain, it remained to Scholastic philosophers to assimilate the new materials. Although many individuals commented on the logica nova and on some of Aristotles books on natural philosophy, Albert the Great is one of only a very few Scholastics to comment on the entire collection of Aristotles biological works.

574 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

born in perhaps 1206

German religious philosopher Saint Albertus Magnus, originally Albert, count von Bollstadt, and also noted as the teacher of Saint Thomas Aquinas, sought to apply methods of Aristotle to current scientific questions.

Also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, this member of the Catholic order of preachers (Dominicans) served as friar and from 1260 to 1262 as bishop of Regensburg. During his lifetime, people knew him as doctor universalis and doctor expertus and later appended the term magnus ("the great") to his name. Scholars, such as James Athanasius Weisheipl and Joachim Roland Söder, referred to this greatest theologian of the Middle Ages. The Church honors him among its 35 doctors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertu...

Reviews

[Perry Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas's mentor, church bishop, and sometimes called the "Universal Doctor" out of respect for his encyclopedic knowledge, wrote widely on matters philosophical, religious, and, yes, science, in particular, what would now be called biology. This work, a massive two-volume translation of the huge work Magnus produced as a summation of knowledge about the creatures of the natural world, is a splendid achievement both on the part of the original author and the translators/editors (Irven Michael Resnick and Kenneth Kitchell) who bring Magnus to those of us who can't find a way through the Latin original.

The handsome two volumes, coming home at nearly 2000 pages and produced by The John Hopkins University Press, is a credit to the publishing profession, and the quality of the work at all levels is impeccable.

Due to the mass of the work and limits of time, I was able only to sample various books and chapters through the two volumes, but found it highly informative regarding the impressive breadth and depth of natural philosophical knowledge of the scholastic era. Granting that there are some bits of information a modern finds, well, amusing, it must be said that there remains much of abiding interest, especially as it reveals how connections between ideas and particles of knowledge were formed and used at the time.

If you're interested in this sort of thing, and can find the time at all, it's highly recommended.

[Abby Ang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have ever read