Athanasius Kircher - Genius or Madman?

Read a very interesting article in last Saturday's New York Times book review section about a man I had never heard of before. His name is Athanasius Kircher and he lived back in the 1600's. He reminds me of a one part Buckminister Fuller, one part Emperor Norton and a couple of parts Weird Al Yankovic. Some of his inventions are pretty much nutso....but he wrote tomes about things most people never even dream up. He was very much an IDEAS MAN!! Among his writings/inventions are the megaphone, Sinology, use of a microscope to view microbes before anyone else, magnetism, translating hieroglyphics, biblical studies, geology, medicine, water clocks, combinatorics, a musical score using the tails of cats as instruments, and his vast book titled, "Oedipus Aegyptiacus. Author John Glassie's new biography is a must read for Moss.