Description
Palgrave MacMillan Chaucer the Alchemist Physics Mutability and the Medieval Imagination 2015 Edition by Alexander N. Gabrovsky
The secrets of nature's alchemy captivated both the scientific and literary imagination of the Middle Ages. This book explores Chaucer's fascination with earth's mutability. Gabrovsky reveals that his poetry represents a major contribution to a medieval worldview centered on the philosophy of physics, astronomy, alchemy, and logic. Table of contents :- PART I: PHYSICS 1. Introduction: Chaucer's Sublunar Region of Mutable Forms 2. Thought Experiments in Geffrey's Dream: The Poetics of Motus Localis, Measurement, and Relativity in the House of Fame PART II: ALCHEMY 3. Alchemical Allegory and Transformative Action in the Franklin's Tale 4. 'As licour out of a lambyc ful faste': Love and Alchemy in Troilus and Criseyde PART III: LOGIC 5. Counterfactual Conditionals in the Avian Debate:Ars Obligatoria and Possible Worlds Semantics in the Parliament of Fowls 6. Conclusion: Chaucer and the Reality of Change