Exhibitions: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine in Harry Potter's World”

The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science by Philip Ball

Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 2006 | ISBN: 9780374229795 | 488 pages | College/adult | Nonfiction

Genre: History/science/biography/medicine/alchemy/religion/chemistry

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself Paracelsus, stands at the cusp of medieval and modern times. A contemporary of Luther, an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, an army surgeon, and a radical theologian, he attracted myths even before he died. His fantastic journeys across Europe and beyond were said to be made on a magical white horse, and he was rumored to carry the elixir of life in the pommel of his great broadsword. His name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil.

His Dark Materials (#1-3) by Phillip Pullman

Laurel Leaf | 2003 (orig. c. 1995, 1997, 2000) | ISBN: 9780440238607 | 3 books (1088 pages total) | Age 12 and up | Fiction

Genre: Fantasy/young adult/adventure

These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.

The Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works by Roger Highfield

Penguin Publishing Group | 2003 (orig. c. 2002) | ISBN: 9780142003558 | 322 pages | Age 12 and up | Nonfiction

Genre: Popular science/pop culture

Can Fluffy the three-headed dog be explained by advances in molecular biology? Could the discovery of “cosmic gravity-shielding effects” unlock the secret to the Nimbus 2000 broomstick's ability to fly? Is the griffin really none other than the dinosaur Protoceratops? Roger Highfield, author of the critically acclaimed The Physics of Christmas , explores the fascinating links between magic and science to reveal that much of what strikes us as supremely strange in the Potter books can actually be explained by the conjurings of the scientific mind.

The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter by "Allan Zola Kronzek, Elizabeth Kronzek"

Three Rivers Press | 2004 (orig. c. 2001) | ISBN: 9780767919449 | 352 pages | Ages 10-13 | Fiction

Genre: Fantasy/young adult/mythology

"Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t, who did?

Millions of readers around the world have been enchanted by the magical world of wizardry, spells, and mythical beasts inhabited by Harry Potter and his friends. But what most readers don’t know is that there is a centuries-old trove of true history, folklore, and mythology behind Harry’s fantastic universe. Now, with The Sorcerer’s Companion , those without access to the Hogwarts Library can school themselves in the fascinating reality behind J. K. Rowling’s world of magic."