Divison of Humanities and Social Sciences

This article aims to contribute to the history of technological innovation by using a case study to investigate the practice of invention and the transfer of knowledge in the field of planetary horology in sixteenth-century Europe. Planetary clocks can be considered some of the highest achievements of Renaissance mechanics: the Microcosm, Emperor Charles V's planetary clock, which was made in the middle of the sixteenth century by Janello Torriani, was considered an innovative technological marvel, the first clock of its kind, but was sadly lost. In this article I will shed light on this mysterious object. I will consider the novelty of Torriani's Microcosm and how this clock provoked the transfer of technical knowledge from the Duchy of Milan to the Kingdom of Germany. Furthermore, I will show how princely patronage promoted interaction between different fields of knowledge, inspiring, directing and supporting economically technological innovation in a specific craft.

EDICIÓN Fundación Juanelo Tur riano COORDINACIÓN Daniel Crespo Delg ado DISEÑO Y MAQUETA Ediciones del Umbral © De la edición, Fundación Juanelo Tur riano © Del texto, su autor © De las imág enes, sus autores ISBN: 978-84-942695-5-4 Cubier ta Messahalla (Masha'allah), fresco, principios del siglo XVI. Iglesia de Sant'Abbondio, Cremona. Detalle.

Spain. He was especially famous for his amazing planetary clocks, which he both designed and physically crafted (thanks to the invention of the first known machine-tool to cut gears), and for his hydraulic device of Toledo, the first giant machine in history that elevated water over a slope of ninety metres a distance of three hundred meters. Given this multifaceted professional profile, Torriani has been considered a Renaissance polymath and a genius. This article goes beyond the anachronistic understanding of these two categories, which it deconstructs, by analyzing Torriani's education and the context of the mathematical professions during the sixteenth century. Janello Torriani, aussi connu sous le nom espagnol de Juanelo Turriano (Crémone c. 1500-Tolède 1585) fut d'abord au service de l'empereur Charles Quint comme forgeron, serrurier, facteur d'ins-truments scientifiques, inventeur célèbre pour ses dispositifs mécaniques, constructeur d'automates et horloger ; au service du roi Philippe II d'Espagne, il fut ingénieur hydraulique, mathématicien, astronome, concepteur de cloches, arpenteur géomètre et auteur de traités de mathématiques. Il est surtout connu pour ses étonnantes horloges astronomiques qu'il a à la fois conçues et construites (grâce à l'invention des premières machines à couper les engrenages), et pour ses dispositifs hydrau-liques de Tolède, dont la toute première machine permettant d'amener de l'eau vers le haut d'une pente sur une distance de 300 mètres. Pour ses multiples compétences professionnelles, Torriani est considéré comme un véritable polymathe et un génie de la Renaissance. Cet article cherche à dépasser une compréhension anachronique de ces deux catégories, qu'il pour déconstruit, en analysant la formation de Torriani et le contexte de la profession de mathématicien au XVI e siècle.

Estensori schede e apparati Andrea Bernardoni (a.b.) Claudio Calì (c.c.) Giorgio Ettore Careddu (g.e.c.) Omar Cucciniello (o.c.) Isabella Fiorentini (i.f.) Leonardo Gariboldi (l.g.) Claudio Giorgione (c.g.) Francesco Marcorin (f.m.) Ida Morisetti (i.m.) Alexander Neuwahl (a.n.) Eliana Angela Pollone (e.a.p.) Paola Redemagni (p.r.) Maria Luisa Ricci (m.l.r.) Paola Salvi (p.s.) Marco Versiero (m.v.) Cristiano Zanetti (c.z.

Early Modern military engineers are obvious 'shadow agents' of war: not necessarily present on the battlefield, their impact on the art of war was nevertheless considerable. The complexity of the professional profile of Renaissance military engineers during the 'military revolution' still makes their identity a historical riddle. In this chapter, I will try to address two issues concerning Renaissance military engineers from the standpoint of the history of science and technology: the cultural models behind their apparent polymathesis-here intended as a wide-ranging learning freely pursued independently from cultural models-and their agency in lesser-known military affairs such as technological propaganda, intelligence and astrology.

Biography, like any other form of historiography, is an imperfect tool that reflects biased and partial images of the past, as if we were facing a puzzle or looking through a mirror. However, if we are aware of the risks involved in this form of historiography, biographers should not feel any inferiority complex compared to other forms of historical narrative. In fact, along with specific risks regarding potential biases, biography also has specific analytical qualities. With the intention of supporting this point of view, I will present my personal experience with biography writing in the field of the History of Science and Technology.

Dear Colleagues,
I hope this message finds you well. I am excited to announce a Call for Papers for the upcoming online workshop titled The Beauty in the Machine: Symbolic Machines, Automata, and Precious Gears in the Early Modern Period.
Please find the attached document for further details. Feel free to circulate it if you know of scholars who might be interested in participating.
Kind regards,

Cristiano

English: A curious letter from the State Archive of Florence has come to light, offering insight into some of the most spectacular—yet unfortunately almost entirely lost—aspects of Roman baroque horology during its golden age. It also allows us to understand the nature of the mysterious production of clocks with automata by one of the central figures of this era, Pier Tommaso Campani.

Italiano: Dall’Archivio di Stato di Firenze1 è emersa una curiosa lettera che permette di far luce su alcuni dei lati più spettacolari e purtroppo quasi interamente perduti dell’orologeria barocca romana nella sua epoca d’oro, e di poter comprendere in cosa consistesse la misteriosa produzione di orologi con automi di uno dei protagonisti di questa stagione, Pier Tommaso Campani.

Among the most revolutionary events in the history of horology was undoubtedly the invention of the pendulum clock. While traditional and older historiography tends to unanimously recognize Christiaan Huygens as the undisputed inventor of this device, a closer examination of archival sources and a critical historiographical analysis reveal a more nuanced picture of the invention process, involving multiple protagonists. Without diminishing Huygens’ merits, the author presents in this article an unpublished document that sheds new light on the Dutch scientist’s relationship with the Medici court, demonstrating that he was fully aware of experiments being conducted in Florence on the application of the pendulum. The arguments presented may also encourage further study of a tower clock, previously overlooked, which could instead emerge as a relic of Florentine efforts to apply the pendulum to timekeeping, precisely during the years when Huygens was publicizing his invention.