Dear colleagues,
Two years ago, on 17 April 2004 the Early Science Working Group in the
Department of the History of Science at Harvard University held a workshop
entitled "Instruments and Material Culture of Early Modern Science". The
speakers, divided into four sessions, were chosen to illustrate the breadth and
creativity of this growing sub-discipline. Graduate students, museum
professionals and faculty members joined together for a day to lecture, debate
and think over the many questions and challenges posed by the notion of early
modern material culture.
A few weeks ago, a special issue of History of Science was published in which
you will find five of the talks presented that day. Please do not hesitate to
contact me for any question or comment you may have.
History of Science
Volume 44, Part 2, Number 144, June 2006
SPECIAL ISSUE: ARTISANS AND INSTRUMENTS, 1300–1800
"The Locales of Islamic Astronomical Instrumentation,"
François Charette 123–138
"From Print to Patents: Living on Instruments in Early Modern Europe," Mario
Biagioli 139–186
"Artisans, Machines, and Descartes’s Organon,"
Jean-François Gauvin 187–216
"Instruments as Cargo in the China Trade,"
Simon Schaffer 217–246
"Catadioptrics and Commerce in Eighteenth-century London," Jim Bennett 247–278
Notes on Contributors 279
Yours truly,
Jean-François Gauvin
Ph.D. candidate
Harvard University
Department of the History of Science
Science Center 371
1 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA
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