Divining science : : treasure hunting and earth science in early modern Germany / / by Warren Alexander Dym.

• Superior document: Studies in Central European histories ; v. 52
• Author: Dym, Warren Alexander.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Central European histories ; v. 52.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (230 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The study of German mining and metallurgy has focused overwhelmingly on labor, capitalism, and progressive engineering and earth science. This book addresses prospecting practices and mining culture. Using the divining, or dowsing rod as a means of exposing miner beliefs, it argues that a robust vernacular science preceded institutionalized geology in Saxony, and that the Freiberg Mining Academy (f.1765) became a site for the synthesis of tradition and new science. The tacit knowledge of dowsing was the mark of the experienced prospector, and rather than decline in importance through the Enlightenment, the practice transformed from a study of mineral vapors into an experimental branch of geophysics. Mining administrations openly hired practitioners through the eighteenth century.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / W. Dym -- Introduction / W. Dym -- 1. White Gold On Spitzberg Hill / W. Dym -- 2. Magic, Witchcraft, And The Nature Of The Rod / W. Dym -- 3. Mining Science: Vernacular Knowledge / W. Dym -- 4. True Stories Of Freiberg Dowsers / W. Dym -- 5. The Murderous Matter: Dowsing And New Science / W. Dym -- 6. The Electric Rod: Dowsing And The Freiberg Mining Academy / W. Dym -- Conclusion / W. Dym -- Selected Bibliography / W. Dym -- Index Of Subjects, Names, And Places / W. Dym -- Studies In Central European Histories / W. Dym.