In recent years scholars have begun to acknowledge that the occult sciences were not marginal enterprises but an integral part of the worldview of many of our ancestors. Astrology was one of the many intellectual tools--along with what we consider to be the superior tools of social and political analysis--that Renaissance thinkers used to attack practical and intellectual problems. It was a coherent body of practices, strongly supported by social institutions. And alchemy was not viewed primarily as a spiritual pursuit, an idea popularized by nineteenth-century occultists, but as a part of natural philosophy. It was often compared to medicine. Many Renaissance writers suggested links between astrology and alchemy that went beyond the use of astrological charts to determine the best time to attempt alchemical operations. This book shows the many ways in which astrology (a form of divination) and alchemy (an artisanal pursuit concerned with the technologies of minerals and metals) diverge as well as intersect. Overall, it shows how an appreciation of the role of the occult opens up new ways of understanding the past. Topics include the career of Renaissance astrologer Girolamo Cardano and his work on medical astrology, the astrological thinking of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, the history of the Rosicrucians and the influence of John Dee, the work of medical alchemist Simon Forman, and an extended critique of the existing historiography of alchemy.

近年来，学者们开始承认，神秘科学不是边缘化的事业，而是我们许多祖先世界观的一个组成部分。占星术是文艺复兴时期思想家用来解决实际问题和智力问题的众多智力工具之一--与我们认为的社会和政治分析的高级工具一样。它是一个连贯的实践体系，得到社会机构的大力支持。炼金术并不被视为主要的精神追求，这种想法在19世纪的神秘主义者中流行，而是作为自然哲学的一部分。它经常被比作医学。许多文艺复兴时期的作家提出了占星术和炼金术之间的联系，这超出了使用占星图来确定尝试炼金术操作的最佳时间。本书展示了占星术（一种占卜形式）和炼金术（一种与矿物和金属技术有关的手工业追求）的许多不同和交叉的方式。总的来说，它显示了对神秘学作用的欣赏如何为理解过去开辟了新的途径。主题包括文艺复兴时期占星家吉罗拉莫-卡达诺的职业生涯和他在医学占星方面的工作，约翰内斯-开普勒和伽利略-伽利略的占星思想，玫瑰十字会的历史和约翰-迪的影响，医学炼金术士西蒙-福曼的工作，以及对现有炼金术历史学的广泛批评。