![]() One thing we probably wouldn’t expect to find-except perhaps in plays-is characters debating each other. ![]() We expect their information to be told in narrative format, in neatly laid out paragraphs, with the author held at something of a distance. Modern monographs tend to be very straightforward, especially works whose aim is to be informative and educational-like a textbook-rather than entertaining or experimental, such as novels or poetry. But it isn’t just the words that can open windows onto the past the manner in which they are written also gives us valuable knowledge about how the art of presenting knowledge has evolved over time. One of the joys of reading primary sources is that it can provide us with a direct window into the past-browsing through an old distillation manual can lead down the path of researching medicinal cannibalism, or mentions of moon phases can provoke a segue into medical astrology.
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