Lo storico David Wooton ci ricorda il tipo di conoscenze che aveva un tipico inglese istruito, all’alba della Rivoluzione Industriale: “He believes witches can summon up storms that sink ships at sea… he believes in werewolves, although there happen not to be any in England – he knows they are to be found in Belgium… he believes Circe really did turn Odysseus’ crew into pigs. He believes mice are spontaneously generated in piles of straw. He believes in contemporary magicians… He has a unicorn’s horn, but not a unicorn. He believes that a murdered body will bleed in the presence of the murderer. He believes that there is an ointment which, if rubbed on a dagger which has caused a wound, will cure a wound. He believes that the shape, colour and texture of a plant can be a clue to how it will work as a medicine because God designed nature to be interpreted by mankind. He believes that it is possible to turn base metal into gold, althoughts he doubts that anyone knows how to do it. He believes that nature abhors a vacuum. He believes the rainbow is a sign from God and that comets portend evil. He believes that dreams predict the future, if we know how to interpret them. He believes, of course, that the earth stand still and the sun and stars turn around the earth once every twenty four hours.”
