Enjoy 17th Century Philosophy in Comic Book Form

Being a philosopher in the 17th century was a dangerous career choice. At odds with the Catholic church, Western philosophy found itself in a precarious position that would sometimes end in violence. For instance, Giordano Bruno—a philosopher who taught others that the Earth was not the center of the universe—was arrested and tried as a heretic and burned at the stake for his views.

That insult, heretic, became the title of a new graphic narrative that focuses on that era: Heretics! The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy.

The comic book features the tales of various Western philosophers like Galileo, Isaac Newton, Baruch Spinoza, and John Locke, and breathes new illustrated life into them. Written by the father-son team Steven and Ben Nadler, the comic book aims to turn the trials of early scientific thought into a riveting graphic narrative.

With the help of colorful illustrations and jokes, the duo is able to make complicated philosophical ideas easier to digest for a larger group of readers as well as offer up plenty of drama.

The comic delves in Galileo's A Vigorous Defense of Copernicanism and Descartes's The World, among other works. Along with the breakdowns of various theories and ideas, there's also plenty of drama, schemes, and exciting triumphs.

You can pre-order the comic on Amazon and have it by June 20.

[h/t The Atlantic]