The Swerve
How the World Became Modern
Stephen Greenblatt
The book chronicles the discovery of Lucretius's ancient poem "On the Nature of Things" by the Renaissance book hunter Poggio Bracciolini, and explores its profound impact on the development of modern thought, science, and culture by reintroducing vital ideas from Epicureanism. It argues that the rediscovery of this classical work contributed to the shift away from medieval scholasticism and towards humanism, helping to ignite the cultural movement that led to the Enlightenment.
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