Dr. Dee in need of some good PR

September 25th, 2009 at 10:11am Host

Was Dr. John Dee (1527-1609)a brilliant scientist or misguided mystic? The debate rages on, 400 years after his death in 1609. Earlier this week, scholars met in Cambridge to try an rescue the reputation of the Elizabethian thinker.

Dr. Dee’s career spanned an era when the distinction between modern science and mysticism was not so clear cut. Unlike some of the other big names of that time, John Dee never made a blockbuster scientific discovery. He was an expert on algebra, made contributions to navigation and had the largest private library of his day, but his reputation as a conjurer of spirits and necromancer has stuck. He wasn’t an Isaac Newton (1642-1727)who discovered gravity or introduced a ground-breaking theory of the Universe. Newton, like Dee, wrote exhaustively on alchemy and Biblical codes, but his reputation is preserved because of his scientific discoveries.

It’s interesting that Chetham’s Library (located next to Urbis) has connections to both Newton and Dee, connections that reflect the reputations of both. The library is home to a 1st edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia, a foundational text of western science, while Dee’s connection is much more sinister. According to legend, when Dee was the Warden of Manchester Collegiate Church (1595) he summoned the Devil himself in his office. The scorch mark on the oak table in the audit room remains as reputed evidence of Satan’s hoof print.

Entry Filed under: Local Geography and History, Out and About