I am Regents Professor of History and Dean of the Honors College at New Mexico State University, where I have taught history of science and European history for almost 30 years. I'm a specialist in the history of science and medicine in Renaissance Italy and Spain, and most of what I write is about the origins of modern science.
Kepler and the Star of Bethlehem
24 December 2011
On the evening of the 17th of October 1604, as the clouds finally lifted over the city of Prague to reveal a clear night sky, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed a new star...
Renaissance Astrology and the Vagaries of Markets
27 November 2011
J. P. Morgan is supposed to have said, “Millionaires don’t use astrology; billionaires do.” Morgan would have known. He hired the best astrologer money could buy, the famous Evangeline...
Astrology and Prophecy in the Renaissance
20 November 2011
The biggest media event of the sixteenth century occurred in 1523-24, when scores of astrologers jumped onto a bandwagon of collective hysteria by proclaiming the imminent end of the...