Nicolaus Cusanus

"This compact book falls into two quite unequal portions. The first and by far longer one (covering the first four parts of the book) consists largely of an exposition of the doctrine of Nicolaus of Cusa, based on three texts: De docta ignorantia, De Idiota, De Beryllo. The last part is an attempt to evaluate Nicolaus' philosophical and historical importance. The author makes a persuasive, if not conclusive, case for viewing Nicolaus as the mediating force between medieval and modern thought. He finds scholastic thought so transformed in Nicolaus that Descartes' further transformations were almost made necessary." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research