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ASME Science Report with John Tresch
BONUS DISCUSSION: Dr. John Tresch, Milton Chair and Professor of History, Art, Science, and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute at the University Of London joins the "ROI" team for the 483rd program in this series. Dr. Tresch will discuss "The Reason For The Darkness Of The Night: Edgar Allen Poe And The Forging Of American Science."The hosts for this abbreviated program segment are John Kealey and Rick Sweet.The opinions expressed in this program are those of the hosts and the guest(s), and not necessarily those of KALA-FM or St. Ambrose University. This program is recorded at KALA-FM, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, USA!
Dr. John Tresch, Milton Chair and Professor of History, Art, Science, and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute at the University Of London joins the "ROI" team for the 483rd program in this series. Dr. Tresch will discuss "The Reason For The Darkness Of The Night: Edgar Allen Poe And The Forging Of American Science."The host for this program segment is John Kealey, and the history buffs are Rick Sweet and Ed Broders.The opinions expressed in this program are those of the hosts and the guest(s), and not necessarily those of KALA-FM or St. Ambrose University. This program is recorded at KALA-FM, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa, USA!
Professor and Mellon Chair in History of Art, Science, and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute, John Tresch is the author of The Reason for the Darkness of the Night Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science. This book peels back the curtains on Poe's life as someone whose life has been surrounded and formed by his passion and fascination for the sciences. A debunker and sometimes fraudster himself, science was always Poe's first mistress.
00:00 Introduction00:45 Dinner is served!02:18 The Christmas meal03:43 The people at the meal04:44 Loaded with good cheer, conversation, and music14:58 Supernatural monument19:03 Author's hopes in writing19:50 Influence of Old Christmas20:58 Criticism of emphasis on the past22:35 Class conflict versus harmony and peace at Christmas24:26 Future episodes20:02 SourcesWhat was the meaning of the thacking sound?Who said grace at the Christmas dinner?What strange things was the deceased knight said to do at nightWhat does Irving say was his reason for writing Old Christmas?Why Old Christmas important from a historical standpoint?How did Irving change Christmas from SOLELY a religious holiday?How is the world of the Squire's England like today?Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
Episode Ninety Four - Generous and Happy Feelings00:00 Introduction00:54 Waking Up02:43 Invitation to family prayers04:01 Breakfast04:38 Observations regarding the grounds08:26 Liturgical concerns 15:58 Emotional effects of sermon18:30 Future episodesWhat was the first thing the narrator heard from outside door when he awoke on Christmas morning?To what did the servant invite the narrator?Why does the Squire not like “modern” breakfasts?Does the local church have an organ?What is the subject of the Squire's sermon?Who believes the Chistmas is a day when “the whole world is thrown open to you?”Why is Washington Irving's Old Christmas important?Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
00:00 Introduction01:16 Ride to Bracebridge Manor03:21 Arrival at Bracebridge04:36 Description of the Manor House10:10 Description of the interior17:26 Description of the narrator's room19:27 Future episodes22:01 SourcesWhat has been the emphasis in the first two portions of Old Christmas?How does the son in the carriage describe his father?Who are the father's favorite authors?Where did the carriage stop?What memories did the wall engender?What did the father feel was “the happiest place in the world' (hint - NOT Disneyland)What did the dogs do when they heard Bracebridge's voice?How was the narrator's room paneled?Why was Mr. Simon Bracebridge so popular?Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
Episode 92 - Santa Claus Establishes New York00:01 Introduction00:36 More about Washington Irving02:43 The Pompous Senator and Santa05:39 The Stage Coach07:11 Anticipating Bantam12:06 Shouts of joy!16:00 Meeting Bracebridge17:54 Future episodes22:39 SourcesWhat were Washington Irving's best known works?How did Irving “invent” Santa Claus?Where did the Knicks get their name?What is The Stage Coach about?Who is Bantam?Who is Bracebridge?Who wrote about Christmas first - Dickens or Irving?Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch.
What is a way of remember the name Washington Irving (and not confusing him with other names!)Where do we get the legend of Santa Claus in America?What was Christmas like during medieval England?How was Christmas celebrated in America before the 1800's?What is the first section of Old Christmas about in tone?00:10 Introduction01:15 Remembering Poe and other writers02:52 Remembering Irving06:49 Festive (and non-festive) Christmas10:15 Irving and Santa Claus12:00 Christmas (first section of Old Christmas)21:02 Future episodes26:02 Sources Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch.
Ninety - The Raven and the EyeThis episode takes a deep dive into two of Dickens' greatest works A Tale of Two Cities and Barnaby Rudge as great examples of historical fiction.In Barnaby Rudge, a raven is one of the characters. Poe and Dickens were friends, and could this be where Poe got the idea for his most famous work?What historical fiction did Dickens write?What did Sydney Carton give to Charles Darney?How many talking ravens did Dickens have?Why is The Pale Blue Eye great historical fiction?Where does most of The Pale Blue Eye take place?Who stars in the Netflix version of The Pale Blue Eye?Who is slated to star in the proposed “The Fall of the House of Usher”?00:01 Introduction to podcast00:53 Introduction to A Tale of Two Cities03:02 Conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities07:47 Info and Preface to Barnaby Rudge9:06 Talking raven11:24 Dickens writes further about Grip the Raven16:22 Father Time from Barnaby Rudge18:31 The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)21:27 The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)22:06 Outro22:29 Future episodes24:01 SourcesSources for this episode include A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens, The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch, Poe and Place by Phillip Edward Phillips, and the Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott.
For our final episode of 2021, we decide to broaden out a personal tradition and share it with listeners... we each share our 10 favorite reading experiences of the year, and discuss why these books made a lasting mark on us. Our choices are not at all limited to books that came out in 2021, but could be any book of any genre from any year. These books were "buried in our heads like a stinger" (to borrow from Flannery O'Connor) and just would not let go, no matter what else we might have consumed. We want to offer a sincere THANK YOU to anyone who chose to spend some of their valuable time listening to us blather on about books this year... we do not take your listening for granted, and while the twinly conversation would go on regardless, it has been humbling and heartening to receive all of your positive feedback about the show. We wish you all a very happy and restorative holiday season, and we'll be talking to you again in 2022! MUSIC BY YOUNG WOLF, VOIDZ PANDA BOOKS DISCUSSED/MENTIONED/RECOMMENDED IN THIS EPISODE What Jude is currently reading/plans to read next: 'White Line Fever,' Lemmy Kilmister (w/ Janiss Garza) - 'A Prayer for the Dying,' Jack Higgins - What John is currently reading/plans to read next: 'Barkskins,' Annie Proulx - 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,' Anonymous, trans. by W. S. Merwin Books/Writers discussed in this episode: JUDE's BEST BOOKS OF 2021 - 1. 'Extraterrestrial,' Avi Loeb - 2. 'Walking with Ghosts,' Gabriel Byrne - 3. 'The Songlines,' Bruce Chatwin - 4. 'The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allen Poe and the Forging of American Science,' John Tresch - 5. 'The Five Wounds,' Kristin Valdez Quade - 6. 'Klara and the Sun,' Kazuo Ishiguro - 7. 'Challenger: A Major Malfunction - A True Story of Politics, Greed and the Wrong Stuff,' Malcolm McConnell - 8. 'Night Boat to Tangier,' Kevin Barry - 9. 'Solar Bones," Mike McCormack - 10. 'Close Range: Wyoming Stories,' Annie Proulx - JOHN's BEST BOOKS OF 2021 - 1. 'Via Negativa,' Daniel Hornsby - 2. 'The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World,' Wade Davis - 3. 'Exhalation: Stories,' Ted Chiang - 4. 'Fragments of an Infinite Memory: My Life with the Internet,' Maël Renouard - 5. 'The Mission: A True Story,' David W. Brown - 6. 'Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2,' Annie Proulx - 7. 'The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vol. 1,' Ed. by James D. Jenkins & Ryan Cagle - 8. 'Cockfighter,' Charles Willeford - 9. 'Interior States: Essays,' Meghan O'Gieblyn - 10. 'Barkskins,' Annie Proulx - Planned next episode of the Book XChange podcast: Episode 43... TBD!
From unwrapping Egyptian mummies to her theories about witch trials and the influence of her 1921 book The Witch-Cult in Western Europe on Wicca beliefs: Margaret Murray's career comes under the spotlight as Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including New Generation Thinker Elsa Richardson and historian of witchcraft Ronald Hutton. Producer: Luke Mulhall You might also be interested in the Free Thinking discussions on Magic with Kate Laity, Chris Gosden, Jessica Gossling and John Tresch https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kvss On Witchcraft, Werewolves and Writing the Devil with Jenni Fagan. Salena Godden, Tabitha Stanmore and Daniel Ogden https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r5hk Enchantment, Witches and Woodlands hearing from Marie Darrieussecq, Zoe Gilbert, Lisa Mullen and Dafydd Daniel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000qkl
It's not hard to imagine Edgar Allan Poe as obsessive. Consider his passionate poetry, his tales of horror barely tapping reality --not to mention his personal life: his ardent marriage to his cousin and his baffling death on the streets of Baltimore. But--manic about SCIENCE? In his biography, historian John Tresch shows us a Poe who led his class at West Point in engineering and math, .. wrote about scientific discoveries and plunged into debates about evolution and the origin of the universe in an age when the line between science and quackery was a blur. Tresch: “My goal is to reframe Poe's life, and bring out this aspect of it --which is as central as it is neglected,-- which is his lifelong obsession with science.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's not hard to imagine Edgar Allan Poe as obsessive. Consider his passionate poetry, his tales of horror barely tapping reality --not to mention his personal life: his ardent marriage to his cousin and his baffling death on the streets of Baltimore. But manic about SCIENCE? In his new biography, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, historian John Tresch shows us a Poe who led his class at West Point in engineering and math, wrote about scientific discoveries and plunged into debates about evolution and the origin of the universe -- in an age when the line between science and quackery was a blur. Links to virtual events: Harvard Bookstore June 18, Fountain Bookstore June 23, Ivy Bookshop June 29. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Matthew Sweet delves into the deep history of magic, its evolution into religion and science and its continuing relevance in the 21st century. Joining his coven are novelist and historian Kate Laity, Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University Chris Gosden, Jessica Gossling who's one of the leaders of the Decadence Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London and John Tresch, Professor of the History of Science and Folk Practice at the Warburg Institute. The History of Magic - From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present by Chris Gosden is out now. Chastity Flame by K.A. Laity is available now. Producer: Torquil MacLeod
Projit Bihari Mukharji's new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch's notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It's a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine
Projit Bihari Mukharji's new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch's notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It's a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Projit Bihari Mukharji’s new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch’s notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It’s a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Projit Bihari Mukharji’s new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch’s notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It’s a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Projit Bihari Mukharji’s new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch’s notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It’s a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Projit Bihari Mukharji’s new book explores the power of small, non-spectacular, and everyday technologies as motors or catalysts of change in the history of science and medicine. Focusing on practices of Ayurveda in British Bengal between about 1870-1930, Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Science (University of Chicago Press, 2016) is structured around five case studies that each describe the incorporation of a particular technology into Ayurvedic practice, resulting in a braiding together of strands of sciences and the production of a new body image. Mukharji develops and engages a number of key concepts in the work, significantly introducing a notion of physiograms (materialized physiologies or materialized body metaphors, a development of John Tresch’s notion of cosmograms) and a way of thinking about the braiding of strands of science and medicine. It’s a beautifully written and compellingly argued work that will be of interest to a wide range of readers of the history of science and medicine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After the Second World War, the Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs described National Socialism as a triumph of irrationalism and a “destruction of reason.” It has since become commonplace to interpret modern European intellectual history as a prolonged struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment is generally valorized as identical with rationality, mechanism, cosmopolitanism, liberalism, progress, optimism, and secularism, while Romanticism is often connected to holism, irrationality, conservatism, nationalism, myth, pessimism and, eventually, fascism. John Tresch (University of Pennsylvania) questions these dichotomies in his new book The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012). In our interview we discuss what made steam engines Romantic, which technical illusions awaited early nineteenth-century Parisian theatergoers and how Saint-Simonians could envisage future society as a Romantic machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Tresch‘s beautiful new book charts a series of transformations that collectively ushered in a new cosmology in the Paris of the early-mid nineteenth century. The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon (University of Chicago Press, 2012) narrates the emergence of a new image of the machine, a new concept of nature, a new theory of knowledge, and a new political orientation through a series of chapters that each use the work of a single figure to open up a world of romantic machines. Part 1 of the book looks at the work of physical scientists whose model of precision experiment and math was transformed by an encounter with romantic philosophy and aesthetics, and introduces the electro-magnetic work of physicist AndreMarie Ampre, the instrumental practices of Prussian geophysical researcher Alexander von Humboldt, and the labor theory of knowledge in relation to the instruments of astronomer and politician Francois Arago. Part 2 looks at the impact of technology on theories of the self and the human, focusing on the fantastic arts and public spectacles featuring new discoveries in optics, mechanics, and natural history. (Readers will find lively discussions of dioramas, hallucinatory opera, symphonies, museums, magic shows, and expositions, here.) Part 3 treats the utopian thinkers and engineer-scientists of the late Restoration and the July Monarchy, looking at religiously-inflected social technologies of conversion, communication, and temporal coordination in the work and thought of Saint-Simon and his followers, printer and literary critic Pierre Leroux’s work and theories, and Auguste Comte’s instruments of thought and paper. It is a rich, elegantly argued work that offers not just a history of science and technology, but also a tracing of the roots of some contemporary continental philosophy, as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices