May 2, 1601: The birth of Athanasius Kircher

Frequently described as “the last man who knew everything,” 17th-century Jesuit Athanasius Kircher was a true polymath. Born May 2, 1601, in Germany, Kircher relocated to Italy and the Roman College by the 1630s, fleeing the Thirty Years’ War. There he began a lifetime of research and publication in an impressively wide array of fields:Continue reading “May 2, 1601: The birth of Athanasius Kircher”

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