Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 26, 2004
Athanasius Kircher was a German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works in the 17th century, most in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. He made an early study of Egyptian hieroglyphs. He was ahead of his time in proposing that the plague was caused by an infectious microorganism and in suggesting effective measures to prevent the spread of the disease. A scientific star in his day, towards the end of his life he was eclipsed by the rationalism of René Descartes and others. In the late 20th century, however, the aesthetic qualities of his work have again begun to be appreciated. He has been described by one scholar, Edward Schmidt, as "the last Renaissance man." (more...)
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