The Practical Renaissance

What sort of information did people in early modern England seek? In The Practical Renaissance Donna Seger explores the diffusion and reception of prescriptive publications over the 16th and 17th centuries. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Showing how classical and continental information had been "Englished" over time, this book shows how new publications supplanted these traditional ideas with more empirical and authoritative knowledge. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts, which include plague tracts, husbandry handbooks, printed recipe books, and navigation manuals, demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Divided into three parts, the opening chapters explore factors which affected the diffusion of practical knowledge via prescriptive texts. Part two focuses on the interaction between new discoveries and traditional authority, and the final section considers debates in the 'medical marketplace', the term 'knowledge-mongerer' and the commodification of knowledge at this time. A thorough exploration into the popular and pragmatic expressions of the period, The Practical Renaissance offers a new window into the movement in which knowledge and information became power.

Introduction: Jewels Abound -- Part I (1500-1557): Diffusion -- Chapter 1: Regimens and -- Rules: The Rudiments of Health and Husbandry -- Chapter 2: Mathematics and -- Mensuration -- Part II (1558-1603): Discovery -- Chapter 3: Elizabethan Exploration and Experimentation: What's New -- a. -- Alchemy Assimilated -- b. New Lands, New Crops, New Cures, New Trees, New Foods -- c. -- Husbandry and Huswifery -- Chapter 4: The -- Navigators -- Part III: (1604-1640): Debate -- Chapter 5. The Plague and Public Health in Early Stuart London -- Chapter 6: The Knowledge-Mongers -- a. -- Gervase -- Markham and the Way to Get Wealth -- b. -- Ready Reckoning and Reference -- Bibliography -- Index.

This introduction to practicing literary theory is a reader consisting of extracts from critical analyses, largely by 20th century Anglo-American literary critics, set around major literary texts that undergraduate students are known to be familiar with. It is specifically targeted to present literary criticism through practical examples of essays by literary theorists themselves, on texts both within and outside the literary canon. Four example essays are included for each author/text presented.

Focused on the appropriation of John Dewey’s ideas on progressive education in revolutionary Mexico, this book reconsiders the interpretation and application of Dewey’s ideas in the world. Rodriguez examines the use of Dewey in Mexico’s state-building projects as a vantage point to assess the global impact of Dewey’s pedagogy. As these projects converged with Dewey’s desire to employ education as a tool for effective social change, Rodriguez understands Dewey not just as a philosopher but as an integral part of the Americas’ progressive movement and era.

This book brings together twelve essays on a wide and rich range of topics, discussions and methodologies in African theology today. Even the book's limitations provide an insight into the situation: its variety also indicates the absence of comprehensive and sustained discussion flowing from the economic and institutional limitation of Africa where research in theology is often beyond the means of many theologians. Then there is the difficulty of staying abreast of continually changing contexts and events in Africa itself. For all of these reasons then, a compelling introduction to a dynamic analysis and conversation.