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New Book
by Professor Reveals Link Between Artisans and Science
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Since the time of Aristotle, the making of knowledge and the
making of objects have generally been considered separate
enterprises. Yet during the late sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries, the two became linked through a new
philosophy we know today as science. In The Body of the
Artisan: Art and Experience in the Scientific Revolution,
Pamela H. Smith demonstrates how much early modern science
owed to an unlikely source – artists and artisans.
From goldsmiths to locksmiths and carpenters to painters,
artists and artisans were much sought after by the new
scientists for their intimate, hands-on knowledge of natural
materials and how to manipulate them. Drawing on a
fascinating array of new evidence from northern Europe, from
the artisans' objects to their writings, Smith shows how
artisans saw all knowledge as rooted in matter and nature.
“I’ve always been astonished by the knowledge about nature
and the expertise in the behavior of natural materials
possessed by early modern artisans, and, at the same time,
by how little historians of science and historians of art
have studied these remarkable skills,” says Smith. “This
lack of attention to the material and technical aspects of
works of art is a legacy of the prejudice among those in the
scholarly world towards the work and products of the hand, a
legacy that still has ramifications today. My aim in this
book was to make clear the ways in which making and knowing
go together.”
Scientists relied heavily on artisanal practices as they
developed the scientific method. No longer equating mere
thinking with the production of knowledge, they realized
that scientific insight only came through direct, physical
engagement with nature--you had to touch and taste,
percolate and precipitate. Similarly, in the visual arts,
the aesthetic of naturalism was based on the grounding of
images in close observation and imitation of real objects.
With nearly 200 images, The Body of the Artisan provides
astonishingly vivid examples of this Renaissance synergy
among art, craft, and science, and recovers a forgotten
episode of the Scientific Revolution--an episode that
forever altered the way we see the natural world.
Smith is the Edwin F. and Margaret Hahn Professor in the
Social Sciences, associate professor of history and often
serves as chair of the Science, Technology and Society
Program at Pomona College. Her other works include The
Business of Alchemy: Science and Culture in the Holy Roman
Empire and Merchants and Marvels: Commerce, Science, and Art
in Early Modern Europe (co-edited with Paula Findlen).
The Body of the Artisan: Art and Experience in the
Scientific Revolution was published in June by The
University of Chicago Press.
Pomona College is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions, offering a comprehensive program in the arts,
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Its
hallmarks include small classes, close relationships between
students and faculty, and a range of opportunities for
student research. Visit Pomona College on the web at
www.pomona.edu. |
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