William Barker – författare

Erasmus was fascinated by proverbs and prepared a collection of more than 4,000 of them, accompanying each with his comments, sometimes in a few lines and sometimes in full-scale essays. His massive compendium, characterized by his wit, his elegance, his bursts of satire alternating with serious views, was among the most learned and widely circulated of Renaissance books. This selection emphasizes Erasmus' skill in explaining the proverbs, shows how he made his book, and demonstrates the way in which many of the proverbs moved into the English language. The text is illustrated with images by Brueghel and D¦rer and examples of proverb use from emblem books.Over eighty proverb essays are presented here. Some are masterpieces of social criticism ('War is sweet to those who have never tried it'), others provide scholarly explanations of philosophical ideas or gestures and customs ('Thumbs up'). Many of the proverbs have passed into modern usage ('Know thyself' , To give someone the finger' 'Well begun is half done'), some even retaining their Latin form ('Deus ex machina'). And a few, it turns out, were created by Erasmus himself through his occasional misinterpretation of the ancient languages ('Pandora's box', 'To call a spade a spade').This edition replaces the pioneering work by Margaret Mann Phillips, providing more essays and more detailed source and background information for the texts. It is based on the translations and scholarship of the Collected Works of Erasmus - mostly that of Sir Roger Mynors but also the work of Phillips herself.

The fundamental idea of geometry is that of symmetry. With that principle as the starting point, Barker and Howe begin an insightful and rewarding study of Euclidean geometry. The primary focus of the book is on transformations of the plane. The transformational point of view provides both a path for deeper understanding of traditional synthetic geometry and tools for providing proofs that spring from a consistent point of view. As a result, proofs become more comprehensible, as techniques can be used and reused in similar settings. The approach to the material is very concrete, with complete explanations of all the important ideas, including foundational background. The discussions of the nine-point circle and wallpaper groups are particular examples of how the strength of the transformational point of view and the care of the authors' exposition combine to give a remarkable presentation of topics in geometry. This text is for a one-semester undergraduate course on geometry. It is richly illustrated and contains hundreds of exercises.

Richard Mulcaster’s Positions was originally published in 1581 during a very active period in the history of education in England. Dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, it was an ambitious bid to change the direction of English schooling. Mulcaster, who taught Edmund Spenser and Lancelot Andrewes, sets down propositions for a uniform political reformation of English schools. In arguing for public over private education, he promotes physical education, a closer control of the students admitted into schools, and ways to improve both the training and careers of teachers. He also discusses the teaching of women, school location, the role of parents in teaching manners and morals, and the need for uniform instruction and textbooks.This is the first authoritative edition of the text and an important primary source for the study of Elizabeth language and culture. It includes an extensive introduction with biography and background to Mulcaster’s wide-ranging ideas. The notes provide further background and explain the archaic forms of Mulcaster’s English style.

Erasmus of Rotterdam came from an obscure background and through remarkable perseverance, skill, and vision became a powerful intellectual figure in Europe in the early sixteenth century. He was known for his vigorous opposition to war, intolerance and hypocrisy, and at the same time for an irony and subtlety that could confuse his friends as well as his opponents. His ideas influenced the rise of the Reformation and had a huge impact on the humanities, and that continues to today. This book shows how an independent textual scholar was able, by the power of the printing press and his own wits, to attain both fame and notoriety. Erasmus of Rotterdam is the first popular biography in English in twenty years and is based on the immense amount of recent scholarship devoted to Erasmus.