Witches in America, Napoleon in Egypt, & the Invention of the Printed Book

An episode from 7/19/22: Sometimes it’s worth just reveling in the way a great historian tells a story, or details and invention, or brings us face-to-face with a familiar topic. Tonight, I read three sections from Jacques Barzun’s book ⁠From Dawn to Decadence⁠, where we hear about:

• The expedition of French scholars that followed Napoleon into Egypt
• (about 24: 18) The invention of the printed book, and what it meant to education and literacy
• (about 44:00) On the Salem Witch trials of 1692, and how closely science at the time was allied with superstition

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Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to [email protected].