Poetry and Natural History in the Peak
This chapter examines Hobbes’s Latin poem De mirabilibus pecci: an account of a tour of the ‘Wonders’ of the Derbyshire Peak. The chapter argues that in its concern with Derbyshire mining practices and hydrology, based on the study of such local phenomena as the underground river flowing out of the Peak Cavern (Devil’s Arse) and the ebbing and flowing well, the poem demonstrates Hobbes’s conversance with neo-Aristotelian meteorology and Renaissance naturalism. It shows also his commitment to the Baconian project of natural history, as it gathers information about areas of knowledge Bacon had marked as deficient: regional marvels and the practices of mechanical artists.
Keyword(s):
1984 ◽
Vol 42
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pp. 110-113
Keyword(s):
2001 ◽
Vol 120
(5)
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pp. A128-A128
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Keyword(s):
Keyword(s):
2006 ◽
Vol 175
(4S)
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pp. 397-397
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