HPSC 0080 (formerly GA22) Early Modern Science Course Syllabus

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1 HPSC 0080 (formerly GA22) Early Modern Science Course Syllabus session Simon Werrett The early modern period, from c.1400 to 1800, experienced a radical transformation in ideas and engagements with the natural world. The module explores these changes through the works of a variety of men and women interested in the making of natural knowledge. Through a range of primary and secondary literature the module considers key elements of early modern science through critical perspectives developed in recent years in STS. The module provides participants with the opportunitu to develop an extended research essay, and provides historical perspective on themes and issues explored in other MSc modules. Course Information Basic course information Moodle Web site: Assessment: Timetable: Prerequisites: Required texts: Course tutor(s): Coursework (5000 words) 100% Go to the common timetable: No prerequisites None Simon Werrett Contact: s.werrett@ucl.ac.uk tel: Web: Office location: 22 Gordon Square, Room 1.2 Office hours: Tuesdays 2-3pm Wednesdays 11am-12pm

2 Schedule UCL Week Topic Date Activity 6 Introduction 08/01 No reading required 7 Renaissance Science 15/01 Read essential reading 8 Information Overload 22/01 Read essential reading 9 Science and Art 29/01 Read essential reading; submit essay proposal 10 Research and Writing Session 05/02 Bring essay proposal to class for discussion 11 Reading Week 11/02-15/02 12 Recipes for Experiment 26/02 Read essential reading 13 Newton, Science, and Religion 01/03 Read essential reading 14 Electricity and Enlightenment 05/03 Read essential reading 15 Science in a Global Context 12/03 Read essential reading 16 Material Histories Discussion 19/03 Read essential reading Assessments Summary Description Deadline Word limit Deadline for tutors to provide feedback Essay proposal Essay You are encouraged to submit a proposal for feedback from the course tutor on your research plans Essay of original research on a topic relating to early modern science January 29 5pm 1 page March 18 5pm 5000 Feb 12 April 23 (to take into account the Easter break Assignments Students are expected to write an essay, in formal historical style, on a topic of their choosing. The topic should be approved by the class tutor before you commence research. Please meet with the tutor to discuss your ideas in office hours. It is recommended that students submit by an essay proposal by January 29, which will receive feedback from the module tutor. Please bring a copy of your proposal to class on February 5 for discussion. The proposal is not assessed.

3 All essays must make use of at least one primary historical source (e.g. manuscripts, images, maps, objects, instruments, buildings) and should relate to themes discussed in the class. Essays must be submitted via Moodle. In order to be deemed complete on this module students must attempt the essay. The deadline for submission is March 18, Criteria for assessment The departmental marking guidelines for individual items of assessment can be found in the STS Student Handbook. In addition to the criteria indicated in the STS Student Handbook, the following are the main criteria on which your essay will be marked. There are no set numbers/ percentages associated with these criteria but we will give you qualitative feedback based on them. Choice of research question You must choose a clear, focused, and practical question to research in your essays, examining some particular issue in the history of early modern science, technology or medicine. If you are unsure about this, speak to the module tutor. Referencing Essays must reference all quotes and information, etc. Pick one system for referencing and stick to it. Refer to individual page numbers, not just whole texts, whenever possible. A style guide will be provided. Bibliography Essays need to include a bibliography of all works referenced. This must supply author, title, date, place of publication and publisher. Organisation Is the essay organized into an introduction, main body and conclusion? Does each part flow naturally into the next one? Is the evidence in a logical order? Introduction Essays should include an introduction in no more than one or two pages. Introduce your topic and your line of argument, indicate what has been written about it previously, and how your argument will be original and distinctive. Indicate briefly how the argument will be organized. Clarity We place great emphasis on clarity of argument and expression. Avoid ambiguity and vagueness. Do not assume your reader already knows what you are talking about. Try to keep your line of argument clear. It often helps clarity to divide the main body of the essay into sections (typically three or four for a 5000 word essay). Accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation also improve clarity. Argumentation Is the main argument of the essay clear, coherent and persuasive? Is it properly supported by the evidence available? Conclusion

4 Essays should have a conclusion which is clearly marked as such (new paragraph, In conclusion ). It should be substantial in summing up what you have argued and exploring the implications of what you have argued. Reading/ use of sources How many sources have been used in the essay? What range of sources have been used (primary, secondary, archival)? How well have these been made use of? Independent critique? Does the essay offer some independent critique or thought on the question or does it merely report what is in the literature? Historiography? How aware is the essay of assumptions and methods used to construct a history or to evaluate it? Does the essay discuss what historians have said about the topic and offer some critique of them? Aims and objectives of the course aims - provide knowledge of key episodes in the history of early modern science - identify key themes in the historiography of early modern science - make use of contemporary research when interpreting historical cases. - develop research skills that integrate archives, museum collections, and digital resources objectives By the end of this module students should be able to: - demonstrate knowledge of key themes in the history of early modern science - provide a critical analysis of key themes in the historiography of early modern science - relate issues in the history of early modern science to key approaches in contemporary science and technology studies - demonstrate professional-level research skills that integrate archives, museum collections, and digital resources Reading list 1. Introduction/ Historical Context (Jan 8) Essential: No reading required. We will discuss resources for early modern research. Additional: two useful general introductions to early modern science are: *Steven Shapin, The Scientific Revolution (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1996). *Peter Dear, Revolutionizing the sciences: European knowledge and its ambitions, (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2001).

5 2. Renaissance Science (Jan 15) Essential: *Paula Findlen, Jokes of Nature and Jokes of Knowledge, Renaissance Quarterly 43 (1990): (JSTOR). *Giambattista Della Porta, Natural Magick (London, 1658) (access via the database Early English Books Online), read the First Book chapters I, II, III, VII, XI. Additional: (1) Peter Dear, Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, , second ed. (Princeton University Press, 2009), chapter 2 (DIGITIZED) (2) Andrew Cunningham, The Anatomical Renaissance: The Resurrection of the Anatomical Projects of the Ancients (Scolar Press, 1997) (3) Jill Kraye, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism (Cambridge University Press, 1996) (4) Paul Oskar Kristeller, Renaissance Thought: The Classic, Scholastic and Humanist Strains (Harper Torchbooks, 1961) (5) Allen Debus, Man and Nature in the Renaissance (Cambridge University Press, 1978) (6) Michel Foucault, The Order of Things (Routledge, 1991), chapter 2 The Prose of the World. (7) David Lindberg, The Beginnings of Western Science (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2008). (8) Robert Westman, The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order (University of California Press, 2011) (E-BOOK) 3. Information Overload Essential: *Ann M. Blair, "Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload Ca " Journal of the History of Ideas 64, no. 1 (2003): (JSTOR) *Edward Topsell, The history of four-footed beasts and serpents (London, 1658) (Early English Books Online, UCL Library Electronic Database) You don t need to read all of Topsell, but following Blair s essay consider the ways he organizes this compendium of knowledge taken from Conrad Gesner. Additional: (1) Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early Modern Europe, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980). (2) Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1998) (3) Adrian Johns, Print and Public Science, in The Cambridge History of Science, vol. 4: Eighteenth-Century Science, Roy Porter, ed. (Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp (4) Ann M. Blair, Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age (Yale University Press, 2010). (5) Elizabeth Yale, With Slips and Scraps: How Early Modern Naturalists Invented the Archive. Book History 12 (2009): 1-36.

6 (6) Lorraine Daston, and Glenn W. Most. History of Science and History of Philologies. Isis 106, no. 2 (2015): (7) Vera Keller, "The New World of Sciences : The Temporality of the Research Agenda and the Unending Ambitions of Science." Isis 103, no. 4 (2012): (8) Vera Keller, Nero and the Last Stalk of Silphion: Collecting Extinct Nature in Early Modern Europe. Early Science and Medicine 19, no. 5 (2014): Science and Art (Jan 29) submit research proposal Essential: * Pamela H. Smith, Artisanal Knowledge and the Representation of Nature in Sixteenth-Century Germany, Studies in the History of Art 69 (2008): *Paracelsus, Paracelsvs Of the supreme mysteries of nature (London, 1655), Prologue and chapters I to IV (EEBO). Additional: (1) Paolo Rossi, Philosophy, Technology, and the Arts in the Early Modern Era, trans. Salvator Attanasio (Harper & Row, 1970). (2) Pamela H. Smith, The Body of the Artisan: Art and Experience in the Scientific Revolution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004) (3) Stephen Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Biography (Oxford University Press, 1995) (4) Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution, (London: Harper Collins, 1980) Chapter 7 to 9. (5) William R. Shea, The Magic of Numbers and Motion: The Scientific Career of René Descartes, (Nantucket, MA.: Science History Publications, 1991). (6) Julian Martin, Francis Bacon, the State and the Reform of Natural Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1991) (7) Stephen Gaukroger, Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 2001) (8) John Cottingham, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge University Press, 1992) (9) Simon Werrett, Fireworks: Pyrotechnic Arts and Sciences in European History (University of Chicago Press, 2010), chapter 2 (DIGITIZED) (10) Simon Werrett, Wonders Never Cease: Descartes s Météores and the Rainbow Fountain British Journal for the History of Science 34 (2001): (JSTOR) 5. Research and Writing Session (Feb 5) There is no required reading for this week, but please bring a 1-page proposal for a research essay to the class. These will not be marked, but will be used to offer guidance on setting and researching an essay. In class, we ll discuss research, writing, and essay ideas. 6. Reading Week (Feb 11 to Feb 15) no class *Note that there will be no class on February 19, but two classes in the following week.

7 7. Recipes for Experiment (Feb 26) Essential: *Elaine Leong, Making Medicines in the Early Modern Household, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 82, no. 1 (2008): *Find three recipes, one medical, one culinary, and one other, from the digitized recipe books in the Wellcome Collection - Who were the authors of these recipes? Can you find out anything about them? How do these differ from modern recipes? Can you find any recipes with evidence they were tried or tested? Additional: (1) Sara Pennell, and Michelle DiMeo, "Introduction." In Reading and Writing Recipe Books, , edited by DiMeo Michelle and Pennell Sara, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013). (2) Alisha Rankin. "Empirics, Physicians, and Wonder Drugs in Early Modern Germany: The Case of the "Panacea Amwaldina"." Early Science and Medicine 14, no. 6 (2009): (3) Sara Pennell, "Making Livings, Lives and Archives: Tales of Four Eighteenth-century Recipe Books." In Reading and Writing Recipe Books, , edited by DiMeo Michelle and Pennell Sara, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013). (4) Steven Shapin, The House of Experiment in Seventeenth-Century England Isis 79 (1988): (JSTOR) (5) Deborah Jean Warner, What is a Scientific Instrument? When did it become one, and why? British Journal for the History of Science 23 (1990): (JSTOR). (6) Thomas Hankins and Robert Silverman, Instruments and the Imagination (Princeton University Press, 1995). (7) Pamela H. Smith, Laboratories, in The Cambridge History of Science Vol. 3 Early Modern Science (E-BOOK) 8. Newton, Science and Religion (March 1) (Note that this class meets on a Friday) Essential: *Iliffe, Rob, The Religion of Isaac Newton, in The Cambridge Companion to Newton, eds. Rob Iliffe and George E. Smith, second edition (Cambridge, 2016) (online text) *Isaac Newton, General Scholium (ONLINE) Additional: (1) Newton, eds. I. Bernard Cohen and Richard S. Westfall (Norton Critical Edition, 1995). (2) J. Fauvel, R. Flood, M. Shortland & R. Wilson, eds., Let Newton Be! A New Perspective on his Life and Works (Oxford University Press, 1988). (3) Patricia Fara, Newton: the Making of Genius (London, Macmillan, 2002). (4) Rob Iliffe, Newton: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2007) (5) Alexandre Koyré, Newtonian Studies (London: Chapman & Hall, 1965). (6) Richard Westfall, Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980) (7) Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs, Newton s Alchemy and his Theory of Matter Isis 73 (1982) (JSTOR) (8) David Kubrin, Newton and the Cyclical Cosmos (1967) Journal of the History of Ideas 28 (1967): (JSTOR).

8 9. Electricity and Enlightenment (March 5) Essential: *Jessica Riskin, "Poor Richard's Leyden Jar: Electricity and Economy in Franklinist France." Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 28, no. 2 (1998): *Benjamin Franklin, Experiments and observations on electricity, made at Philadelphia in America (London, 1751), Letter 1 (pp. 1-9). (Eighteenth-Century Collections Online) Additional: Paola Bertucci, "Revealing Sparks: John Wesley and the Religious Utility of Electrical Healing." The British Journal for the History of Science 39, no. 3 (2006): Lissa Roberts, "Science Becomes Electric: Dutch Interaction with the Electrical Machine during the Eighteenth Century." Isis 90, no. 4 (1999): Michael R. Lynn, Popular science and public opinion in eighteenth-century France (Manchester University Press, 2006) Patricia Fara, Marginalized Practices, in Cambridge History of Science vol. 4: Eighteenth-Century Science (E-BOOK) Geoffrey V. Sutton, Science for a Polite Society: Gender, Culture and the Demonstration of Enlightenment (Westview Press, 1995) Dorinda Outram, The Enlightenment, 3 rd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2013). Simon Schaffer, Natural Philosophy and Public Spectacle in the Eighteenth Century, History of Science 21 (1983): Science in a Global Context (March 12) Essential: * Kapil Raj, Thinking Without the Scientific Revolution: Global Interactions and the Construction of Knowledge, Journal of Early Modern History 21 (2017): 1-14 (Brill Journals online) *Sujit Sivasundaram, Sciences and the Global: On Methods, Questions, and Theory, Isis 101 (2010): (JSTOR). Additional: (1) Kapil Raj, Relocating Modern Science: Circulation and the Construction of Knowledge in South Asia and Europe, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) (2) Kapil Raj, Beyond Postcolonialism and Postpositivism: Circulation and the Global History of Science, Isis 104, no. 2 (2013): (JSTOR). (3) Daniela Bleichmar, "Exploration in Print: Books and Botanical Travel from Spain to the Americas in the Late Eighteenth Century." Huntington Library Quarterly 70, no. 1 (2007): (4) Patricia Fara, Sex, Botany, and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (Cambridge: Icon, 2003). (5) James Delbourgo, Kapil Raj, Lissa Roberts, and Simon Schaffer, eds., The Brokered World: Go-Betweens and Global Intelligence, (Sagamore Beach, MA: Science History Publications, 2009).

9 (6) B. Harun Küçük, Early Modern Ottoman Science: A New Materialist Framework, Journal of Early Modern History 21 (2017): (7) Lizbet Koerner, Linnaeus s Floral Transplants, Representations, 1994, 47: (8) Londa Schiebinger, Feminist History of Colonial Science. Hypatia, vol. 19, no. 1, 2004, pp , JSTOR, (9) Larry Stewart, Global pillage: science, commerce and Empire in Cambridge History of Science vol. 4: Eighteenth-Century Science (E-BOOK) 11. Material Histories Discussion (March 19) + Module Evaluations *For this class, students should bring images and questions relating to an object they have identified in the Enlightenment Gallery of the British Museum. Questions might be informed by the literature below and previous classes. Essential: * Lissa Roberts and Simon Werrett, eds., Compound Histories: Materials, Production, Governance, (Brill, 2017) (Open Access online), Introduction. Additional: (1) Anita Guerrini, The Material Turn in the History of Life Science, Literature Compass 13/7 (2016): (2) Simon Schaffer and Adriana Craciun, eds., The Material Cultures of Enlightenment Arts and Sciences (London: Palgrave Macmillan 2016) (Library) (3) Lucia Dacome, Malleable Anatomies: Models, Makers, and Material Culture in Eighteenth-Century Italy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017). (4) Lissa Roberts, The Death of the Sensuous Chemist Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A 26 (1995): (E-JOURNAL) (5) Simon Werrett, Matter and Facts: Material Culture and the History of Science. In Alison Wylie and Robert Chapman, eds., Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice (London: Routledge, 2015) (Library). (6) Ursula Klein, and Emma C. Spary, eds., Materials and Expertise in Early Modern Europe: Between Market and Laboratory (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). (7) Thomas L. Hankins and Robert J. Silverman, Instruments and the Imagination (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995). (8) Simon Werrett, Thrifty Science: Making the Most of Materials in the History of Experiment (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019). Course expectations Students are expected to attend all classes, and to be prepared to discuss the readings which they should bring to class either in hard copy or electronic format. Students should read and make notes on essential texts, thinking of questions to ask about them in class. If a student cannot attend, please let the module tutor know beforehand. Important policy information

10 Details of college and departmental policies relating to modules and assessments can be found in the STS Student Handbook All students taking modules in the STS department are expected to read these policies.