2-756-482 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Philospohers on the Summit of Mount Athos Taking Observations of the Stars and Writing Words in the Dust', 15th century, (1943). Astronomers using instruments to observe the night sky. Illumination from "The Travels of Sir John Mandeville", a travel memoir which first appeared in the late 14th century. The term 'philospher' (lover of wisdom), meaning someone who studied nature, was replaced by the modern term 'scientist'. 'Philospher' came to refer to someone who asks questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Published in "British Philosophers', by Kenneth Matthews. [Collins, London, 1943]