This event has ended. You can watch the recorded program below.
There are many well-known printed images that have come down to us from the 17th century, such as Galileo’s drawings of the moon, Otto von Guericke’s experiment with the Magdeburg hemispheres, and the bulging veins in William Harvey’s arm.
One might think that reading these images is straightforward, but it is not. The Age of Galileo was still an emblematic age, and images usually had some kind of message to convey beyond mere depiction of an object or event. But after 1660 or so, matters changed, when it was realized that images could function as witnesses to scientific discovery. Images that showed generic entities were no longer useful, while those that captured exactly what the investigator was seeing became more desirable, since such an image could help confirm the evidence of the text. With that realization, the function of the image was altered, from emblem to visual record.
In his lecture, Professor Ashworth will discuss and document this important transition with images from the Library’s collection.
Virtual attendance option
This program will be presented in-person at the Linda Hall Library. If you would prefer to watch this program virtually, please follow this link to register:
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William B. Ashworth, Jr., PhD, is a historian of science, with an emphasis on the Renaissance and early modern periods. His research interests focus on Renaissance and early modern natural history and early scientific illustration, especially emblematic imagery. Dr. Ashworth is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and, since 1978, he has been a Consultant for the History of Science at the Linda Hall Library, where he writes the Library’s daily blog, the Scientist of the Day. He has also curated or co-curated 28 rare book exhibitions for the Library. Dr. Ashworth earned a BA from Wesleyan University and a PhD in History of Science from the University of Wisconsin.
