I think it’s fair to say that most people think that science banished magic as an explanation for how the world works. But what if they aren’t so very different from each other? It turns out that there’s a category in medieval and Renaissance magic that is remarkably similar the the beginnings of modern science. Change some terminology and the connection is clear. The story has been muddled by the triumphalistic attitudes of modernity, but a closer look shows that the Scientific Revolution was much closer to natural magic than we like to admit. This article looks at some of those connections.