par Martino, Davide 
Référence ‘Leviathan and after: a celebration’ with Simon Schaffer and Steven Shapin (12/05/2025: UCL & Science Museum, London, UK)
Publication Non publié, 2025-05-12
Référence ‘Leviathan and after: a celebration’ with Simon Schaffer and Steven Shapin (12/05/2025: UCL & Science Museum, London, UK)
Publication Non publié, 2025-05-12
Communication à un colloque
| Résumé : | In the premodern world, control over water was difficult, expensive, and at best temporary—but it was highly desirable for military, health, economic, social, and political reasons. Rulers craved the powers of Neptune, the ancient god of waters who could quell storms with his trident. The people promising such powers over the liquid element, and working to achieve or restore them, built entire careers on their claims to expertise in working with water. Focusing on early modern cities on either side of the Atlantic, I argue that the craft of these hydraulic experts is best understood as both art and science—echoing the German Kunst, and the Greek tékhnē. Such a hybrid concept allows me to situate not just hydraulic experts, but also the broader spectrum of early modern engagements with the environment. Building on recent environmental history scholarship, as well as the insights of Bruno Latour, this paper sees ‘the environment’ not as a heuristic tool, but as a construct which is itself in need of explanation. Providing such explanation should be a goal of the history of science, which as I show can recover premodern modes of gaining knowledge about, working with, and ultimately constructing ‘the environment’. |
