Summary
Professor Moran joined the faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno in 1976. His primary areas of study are the history of science, early medicine and European cultural and intellectual history. In addition to numerous articles, he is the author of The Alchemical World of German Court (1991); Chemical Pharmacy Enters of the University (1991); (ed.) Patronage and Institutions: Science, Technology, and Medicine at the European Court (1991); (trans. and commentary) The Herbarius of Paracelsus (1993); (co-ed.) Disease and Medical Care in the Intermountain West (1998); Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution (2005); Andreas Libavius and the Transformation of Alchemy: Separating Cultures with Polemical Fire (2007); (co-ed.) Bridging Traditions: Alchemy, Chemistry, and Paracelsian Practices in the Early Modern Era (2015). Several books are in progress including "Paracelsus: Completing Nature, Recreating the Soul" and "Sentiments of Practice in Early Modern Alchemy." He has been a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Kassel), a guest professor at the Institute for the History of Pharmacy (Marburg), a visiting scholar in the department of history and philosophy of science (Cambridge) and an honorary research associate at the Welcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine (London). He has received grants from the Humboldt Foundation and the National Science Foundation and was named the University of Nevada, Reno's Outstanding Researcher for 2009. Most recently he has been named Dibner Distinguished Fellow in the History of Science and Technology at the Huntington Library (2010-2011), Distinguished Visiting Faculty, Harvard University (2012-2013) and Gorden Cain Distinguished Fellow, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia (2014-2015). Currently, he is the editor of the history of science journal Ambix.
Specialties
- Early modern Europe
- history of science
- history of medicine
Courses Taught
- History 281R: Magic, Marvels, and Nature in the Pre-Modern World
- History 385R: Witches, Wars, and Wisdom in the Early Modern Era
- History 480/680: Science, Technology and Society
- History 480A/680A: Problems in the History and Philosophy of Science
- History 480B/680B: Renaissance Science and the Secrets of Nature
- History 481/681: Mind Madness, and Culture: Psychotherapy in Europe and America
- History 490A/690A: History of Early Medicine
- History 711: Seminar in Early Modern Europe
- History 740: Seminar in the History of Science
Education
- Ph.D., History of Science, University of California, Los Angeles, 1978