080: Learning From The History of Science - Pamela H Smith

Guest OverviewBorn and raised in a small isolated California town, influenced by what she describes as a ‘consistent, persistent, and gentle’ math teacher father and the ‘artistic and creative’ mother, serendipity led her to discover her love of the history of science at Wollongong University in Australia and then commit her life to be a historian of science - is this weeks guest Pamela H Smith. Pamela is a Professor of History at Columbia University and Founding Director of the Center for Science and Society where she leads the Making and Knowing Research Project. In part one of this two-parter, we discuss Pamela’s upbringing and her journey into the history of science. We also discuss the evolution of science, human progress through the centuries, creativity, curiosity and the acceleration of knowledge and the influence of social organization and networks as our economies and trade networks developed. We also discuss the growth of cities, the emergence of artisan class and changing roles they played. In Part two we discuss how Pamela established the Making and Knowing Research Project, its purpose and we discuss the origins of her most recent launch - The Secrets of Craft and Nature in Renaissance France. A Digital Critical Edition and its English Translation. That might sound dry to many but this is a remarkable sixteenth-century manuscript that contains over 900 recipes for making art objects, medical remedies, and materials for the household and workshop. Pamela explains how the craft workshop practices record extensive first-hand experimentation with natural materials and provide unique insights into the material, technical, and intellectual world of the late sixteenth century and bring a better understanding of how and why nature was investigated, collected, and used in art in early modern Europe. It sheds light on the origins of the natural sciences in the creative labors of Renaissance artists and artisans’ workshops. The digital critical edition is an open-source resou