Patreon Prize Draw Result: Congratulations (and Thank You!) to Ian Thompson

The first prize draw for patrons of Forbidden Histories has come to a close, and I am very pleased to announce Ian Thompson in California as the winner. Ian, a nuclear physicist who has also published in the philosophy of science, has kindly permitted me to name him as the recipient of the prize.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to again say a heartfelt thank-you to Ian – and indeed to all of you who chose to actively keep Forbidden Histories alive through your pledge on Patreon, which is currently the only source of funding for my work.

Ian will shortly receive the prize, a copy of John Dee’s Conversations with Angels, by science historian Deborah Harkness (Cambridge University Press, 2008). In her exquisite study, Harkness explores the concrete contexts of Dee’s conventional and unorthodox work, which we need to grasp and appreciate before we can make any judgements on the supposed irrationality not only of Dee’s occult preoccupations. Here is a short blurb from the website of the book’s publisher, Cambridge University Press:

John Dee’s angel conversations have been an enigmatic facet of Elizabethan England’s most famous natural philosopher’s life and work. Professor Harkness contextualizes Dee’s angel conversations within the natural philosophical, religious and social contexts of his time. She argues that they represent a continuing development of John Dee’s earlier concerns and interests. These conversations include discussions of the natural world, the practice of natural philosophy, and the apocalypse.

There will be a Patreon prize draw every three months (I will select and announce the next prize soon). All patrons are eligible and will be entered automatically.

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