>Kircher? Never heard of him of course. So I went through the link
>and its quick sketch. Still not understanding why this guy should be
>celebrated...
If I finally get the book, maybe I'll come back to this. I'm interested because I've seen the display at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which is a whacky little place. But also because Stephen Jay Gould wrote about him, and I'm usually interested in anything Gould was interested in.