''Pseudodoxia Epidemica: or, Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths'', also known simply as ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' or ''Vulgar Errors'', is a work by the English

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

Thomas Browne, challenging and refuting the "vulgar" or common errors and superstitions of his own historical era. It first appeared in 1646 and went through five subsequent editions, the last revision occurring in 1672. The work includes evidence of Browne's adherence to the Baconian method of empirical observation of nature, and was in the vanguard of work-in-progress scientific journalism during the 17th-century

Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of History of science, modern science during the early modern period, when developments in History of mathematics#Mathematics during the Scientific Revolution, mathemati ...

. Throughout its pages, frequent examples of Browne's subtle humour can also be found. Browne's three determinants for obtaining truth were the authority of past scholarly works, the act of reason, and empirical experience. Each of these determinants is employed upon subjects ranging from common

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

. Subjects covered in ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' are arranged in accordance to the time-honoured

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

scale of creation; the learned doctor essaying on the nature of error itself (Book 1), continuing with fallacies in the

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

(Book 2), and

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

(Book 3) kingdoms onto errors concerning Man (Book 4), Art (Book 5),

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

(Book 6), and finally

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and the

Cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...

(Book 7). In the process of describing the science of his era, Browne introduced a number of

neologisms In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

in his works. Among the neologisms introduced in the book are the terms ''

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

'', ''

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

'', ''

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

'', ''

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

'', ''

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, ...

'', and ''

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

''.

Popular science

''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' was a valuable source of information which found itself upon the shelves of many homes in seventeenth century England. Being in the vanguard of the scientific writing, it paved the way for much subsequent popular scientific journalism and began a decline in the belief in mythical creatures. Its science includes many examples of Browne's 'at-first-hand' empiricism as well as early examples of the formulation of scientific hypothesis. The second of ''Pseudodoxia Epidemicas seven books entitled ''Tenets concerning Mineral and Vegetable Bodies'' includes Browne's experiments with

static electricity Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. The charge remains until it can move away by an electric current or electrical discharge. The word "static" is used to differentiate it from electric ...

and

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...

— the word ''electricity'' being one of hundreds of neologisms including ''

'', ''

'', and ''

'' contributed by Browne into the vocabulary of the early Scientific Revolution.

Editions

The popularity of ''Pseudodoxia'' in its day is confirmed by the fact that it went through no fewer than six editions. The first appeared in 1646 during the reign of Charles I and during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

; four during the

interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...

, in 1650, 1658 (two), and 1659; and the final edition in 1672, during the reign of Charles II, and when the

was well under way. ''Pseudodoxia'' was subsequently translated and published in French, Dutch, Latin and German throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The German Christian Cabalist Christian Knorr von Rosenroth translated the book into German in 1680. File:Broiwne-3.jpg, alt=, Table of contents page for the 1646 copy of ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'', or ''Vulgar Errors'' File:Browne-4.jpg, alt=, First page of the 1646 copy of ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'', or ''Vulgar Errors''

Evaluation by other writers

Today there is considerable confusion how best to define Sir Thomas Browne's scientific methodology, which is described by E. S. Merton thus: William P. Dunn summarised the ambiguities of Browne's scientific view-point thus: Robert Sencourt succinctly defined Browne's relationship to scientific enquiry as "an instance of a scientific reason, lit up by mysticism, in the Church of England". The 1651 book ''Arcana Microcosmi'', by Alexander Ross, attempted to rebut many of Browne's claims.

Sources

A detailed edition of ''Pseudodoxia Epidemica'' in two volumes was published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1986, edited and comprehensively annotated by Robin Robbins.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Online edition

Facsimile of 4th edition
1646 books 1650 books 1658 books 1659 non-fiction books 1672 non-fiction books 1680 non-fiction books 1646 in science 1646 in England Works by Thomas Browne Superstitions Empiricism Scientific Revolution English non-fiction books

Popular science

Editions

Evaluation by other writers

Sources

See also

References

External links