The Journals Speak Almost Entirely in Metaphor

The Journals Speak Almost Entirely in Metaphor

Himalayas, March 1508The pass above Nako is at four thousand meters and the air is thin enough that thinking requires effort. I have been in these mountains for three years. The monasteries receive me without excessive questions. The monks here are accustomed to the...
Alchemy: What Prague Taught Me

Alchemy: What Prague Taught Me

Prague, late 16th centuryRudolf II’s Prague was a city organized around the belief that the world’s hidden laws could be discovered through sustained, systematic investigation of matter. The alchemists were wrong about the chemistry: base metal cannot be...