Renaissance futurities: science, art, invention

Abstract

"Renaissance Futurities considers the intersections between artistic rebirth, the new science, and European imperialism in the global early modern world. Charlene Villaseñor Black and Mari-Tere Álvarez take as inspiration the work of Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), prolific artist and inventor, and other polymaths such as philosopher Giulio "Delminio" Camillo (1480-1544), physician and naturalist Francisco Hernández de Toledo (1514-1587), and writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). This concern with futurity is inspired by the Renaissance itself, a period defined by visions of the future, as well as by recent theorizing of temporality in Renaissance and queer studies. This transdisciplinary volume is at the cutting edge of the humanities, medical humanities, scientific discovery, and avant-garde artistic expression"--Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction, the future is now: reflections on art, science, futurity / Charlene Villaseñor Black and Mari-Tere Álvarez -- Moon shot: from renaissance imagination to modern reality / Mari-Tere Álvarez -- Machines in the garden / Jessica Riskin -- Inventing interfaces: Camillo's memory theater and the renaissance of human-computer interaction / Peter Matussek -- Futurities, empire, and censorship: Cervantes in conversation with Ovid and Orwell / Frederick A. de Armas -- Anticipating the future: Leonardo's unpublished anatomical and mathematical observations / Morteza Gharib, Francis C. Wells, with Mari-Tere Álvarez -- Medicine as a hunt: searching for the secrets of the New World / William Eamon -- The half-life of blue / Charlene Villaseñor Black -- 'Ingenuity' and artists' ways of knowing / Claire Farago.