The Light Ages is a history of science in the medieval era. The author has redefined what we today call the Dark Ages as the Light Ages as far as science is concerned. Many scientific discoveries were made that are still current science. Others were later improved upon by subsequent scientists.

The publisher's summary:

Soaring Gothic cathedrals, violent crusades, the Black Death: these are the dramatic forces that shaped the medieval era. But the so-called Dark Ages also gave us the first universities, eyeglasses and mechanical clocks. As medieval thinkers sought to understand the world around them, from the passing of the seasons, to the stars in the sky, they came to develop a vibrant scientific culture.

In The Light Ages Cambridge science historian Seb Falk takes us on a tour of medieval science through the eyes of one fourteenth century monk, John of Westwyk. Born in a rural manor, educated at England's grandest monastery and then exiled to a cliff top priory, Westwyk was an intrepid crusader, inventor and astrologer. From multiplying Roman numerals to navigating by the stars we learn emerging science. On our way we encounter the English abbot with leprosy who built a clock, the French craftsman turned spy and the Persian polymath who founded the world's most advanced observatory.

The book opens with a question concerning whether Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a book on science. It was later determined that John of Westwyk wrote the book. I thought it was fascinating how scholars figured this out. The chapters are laid out by type of science. We read about how monks learned to tell time and that there are planets they mistook as stars. From figuring out the time of day by watching the daily difference in light and dark hours, these monks, the scholars of the day, later brought the world clocks. While they initially thought the sun orbited Earth, their conclusions about time were correct. The later discovery that the Earth orbited the sun did not change these conclusions. Astrology was a major topic for study as was the invention and later improvement of the astrologer.

I enjoyed the first half of the book but was less interested in the second half. Alot of material was repeated and I was bored. I found myself skipping pages. At 396 pages in length, the book may have been easier to read if it was shorter. ( )

I was fascinated by this one. And as the author intended, reading it has changed my entire perception of medieval scholarship. Focusing on the story of a respected but rather obscure English monk, John Westwyk, he builds the entire story of the development of knowledge of modern mathematics, astronomy, and navigation, as well as documenting the active interchange of scientific knowledge between cultures: European Christians and Jews, Indians, Persians, and even Chinese. Quick note: the text itself is only about 300 pages long; there are a hundred pages of back matter.

I quickly gave up on trying to understand the mathematics and mechanics of the instruments these people used so adeptly and simply focused on the narrative, which was fascinating in itself. He gives extensive references and links to the many online copies of the original documents, such as this one of one of the astronomical instruments: http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-PETERHOUSE-00075-00001/1

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DNF @ page 200. An engaging examination of the scientific work done in the Middle Ages - mostly astronomy, maths and instrument design - but it was too detailed to hold my interest throughout. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in th history of science, though. ( )

Well worth stocking in all public and university libraries. This book is unusual in opening the mediaeval world to modern general readers while, at the same time, gently questioning assumptions about how history is studied and communicated. I especially liked how the career of historian Derek Price was subtly vaunted, and the elegant epilogue. ( )

The Firesign Theatre did a sketch of which the catchphrase was "Everything you know is wrong." That phrase could be a sub-title for this book. The author starts with the history of a manuscript that seemed to contain the handwriting of Geoffrey Chaucer. An newly discovered poem? No, a treatise on the use of the astrolabe, an instrument for determining the positions of various stars and planets. This is the beginning of a tour of medieval science, its origins in the need for accurate calendars to determine the timing of feast days, the calculations necessary and the instruments invented to aid in those calculations. An English monk of the 14th century is the center of the story as he labors in St. Albans Abbey to copy, amend and improve charts and eventually to invent a device known as the Equatorium. Seb Falk takes us on a tour of a Middle Ages in which Islamic, Jewish and Christian scholars shared information; the study of nature was seen as part of learning the glory of the Creator, and the great universities of Europe were created. Although much of the work concentrates on the astronomy/astrology that was the focus of John of Westwyk's work, Falk also mentions medieval medicine, war and trade. Very interesting, although the explanations of some of the calculations are somewhat dry. Line drawings and photos clarify the concepts.