Today, tomorrow, and Friday I’ll have the delight of conducting a Twitter Book Tour for William Eamon and his new release from 
National Geographic Books, “The Professor of Secrets: Mystery, Medicine, and Alchemy in Renaissance Italy.”
What’s a Twitter Book Tour? Basically, it’s a clever name for a live online author chat. At 3:00 p.m. Eastern time today (all times listed below), William Eamon and I will hop on Twitter and start chatting, using hashtag #ngsecrets. (For those of you who aren’t sure, a “hashtag” is simply the “hash mark” or “#” sign combined with any word or phrase relevant to a particular discussion. Adding the hashtag to a tweet makes it possible for people to search on that tweet. If you just want to see tweets in the chat, I recommend TweetChat.com, a site that is quite simple to use.)
Now, more important: Allow me to introduce Eamon and his book!
William Eamon is Regents Professor of History and dean of the Honors College at New Mexico State University. A specialist in the history of science and medicine in Renaissance Italy and Spain, he is the author of “Science and the Secrets of Nature: Books of Secrets in Medieval and Early Modern Culture” and the co-editor of “Beyond the Black Legend: Spain and the Scientific Revolution.” In addition, he has written more than 50 scholarly articles, essays, and book chapters.
“The Professor of Secrets: Mystery, Medicine, and Alchemy in Renaissance Italy” is Eamon’s latest book, from National Geographic, and it’s a fascinating look at a Renaissance doctor named Leonardo Fioravanti who hoped to find the ancient panacea that would cure all illnesses. One of my favorite aspects of this historical jigsaw puzzle Eamon puts together is how much Fioravanti had to struggle against the political and academic mores of his day — just like modern mavericks in medicine.
Join William Eamon today at 3 p.m. Eastern, Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern, and Friday at noon Eastern. Each day we’ll have a one-hour chat about Fioravanti, mysteries, medical history, and more. There will be giveaways, too — so even if you don’t have a specific question, stop in using #ngsecrets. Anyone who visits is eligible to win a copy of “The Professor of Secrets.”
If you have any questions, find *me* on Twitter: @thebookmaven. “See” you soon!
