Science vs. Superstition

The author tries mightily to separate "good" science from the "evil" of magical exploration in The Trumpeter of Krakow. While the novel is an enduring, noble tribute to historic Poland, the central theme of the story betrays the scientific hubris of the early twentieth century in which the novel was written. The author writes about fifteenth century Poland from the privileged vantage point of the twentieth century, by which time, according to the historical narrator, scientists had figured out the truth of the world and dispensed with the immoral and foolish superstitions of the fifteenth century. These superstitions are enumerated in the storyline and associated with greed, violence, and sin. The author simultaneously laughs at the idea that magic exists, for science has clearly disproved its existence, and yet he warns against the evils of magic, in a sense, revealing his own superstitious dread.

The alchemist...