Wotton and His Worlds

About the Book

About the Author

I am not a professional historian but a neuroscientist though I have had a life-long interest in history and formerly served as the official historian of the International Society for Neurochemistry. I came across Wotton via a trail of research which began when I learnt that Donne’s poem, An Anatomy of the World appeared in London soon after Galileo’s revolutionary astronomical findings were published in Venice in 1610. Evidence suggested his informant was his friend, the English ambassador to Venice, Sir Henry Wotton. I was surprised to find that very little had been written about Wotton’s fascinating life since Logan Pearsall Smith’s Life and Letters came out in 1907. Hence the present book, which has occupied me over the past three years.