Of all the many things I learned in taking Dr. Paul Freedman’s Yale Open Course The Early Middle Ages, 284–1000, Prof. Freedman’s explanation of the inappropriateness of referring to the period of European history between the fall of the Roman empire and the peak of the Medieval period as “the dark ages” has been among the most enduring. Although still-too-often popularly thought as a time of decline and ignorance, a number of important discoveries and developments, particularly as the millennium approached, were made.
In his recently published The Light Ages, The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, Dr. Seb Falk assumes the perspective of a fourteenth century monk to guide his readers on a tour of the intellectual and technological developments – from universities, eyeglasses, and mechanical clocks to a rediscovery and refinement of astronomical studies – that occurred during the period.
As anyone who has ever witnessed any of Dr. Falk’s presentations can readily attest, his energy, enthusiasm, love for his subject, and creativity in communicating it to an audience is quite memorable indeed. Therefore it is not unreasonable for readers of this, his first, book to expect that these same qualities may be found in its pages. Lively, fast-paced, and rich in interesting new insights on nearly every page, this is indeed a book that will both inform and entertain all interested in improving their understanding of a too-often misunderstood period of history.
