Artisanal enlightenment : science and the mechanical arts in Old Regime France / Paola Bertucci.

ISBN:

9780300231625

Title:

Author:

Bertucci, Paola, author.

Personal Author:

Bertucci, Paola, author.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 300 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Introduction : savants, artisans, artistes -- 1. Lost knowledge and the history of the arts -- 2. Réaumur and the science of the arts -- 3. Theory, practice, improvement -- 4. Society of Arts -- 5. The politics of writing about making -- 6. L'Esprit in the machine -- Epilogue.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Science -- France -- History -- 18th century.

Science -- Philosophy.

Enlightenment -- France.

Sciences -- France -- Histoire -- 18e siècle.

Siècle des Lumières -- France.

SCIENCE -- History.

HISTORY -- Europe -- France.

Science -- Philosophy

Enlightenment

Intellectual life

Science

Geographic Term:

France -- Intellectual life -- 18th century.

France -- Vie intellectuelle -- 18e siècle.

France

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?url=http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=1622336

Publication Date:

2017

Publication Information:

New Haven :

Yale University Press,

[2017]

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
509.4409033 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A groundbreaking work that places the mechanical arts and the world of making at the heart of the Enlightenment

What would the Enlightenment look like from the perspective of artistes , the learned artisans with esprit , who presented themselves in contrast to philosophers, savants, and routine-bound craftsmen? Making a radical change of historical protagonists, Paola Bertucci places the mechanical arts and the world of making at the heart of the Enlightenment. At a time of great colonial, commercial, and imperial concerns, artistes planned encyclopedic projects and sought an official role in the administration of the French state. The Société des Arts , which they envisioned as a state institution that would foster France's colonial and economic expansion, was the most ambitious expression of their collective aspirations.

Artisanal Enlightenment provides the first in-depth study of the Société , and demonstrates its legacy in scientific programs, academies, and the making of Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédie . Through insightful analysis of textual, visual, and material sources, Bertucci provides a groundbreaking perspective on the politics of writing on the mechanical arts and the development of key Enlightenment concepts such as improvement, utility, and progress.

Author Notes

Paola Bertucci is associate professor of history at Yale University. She has published extensively on the public culture of science in eighteenth-century Europe, and is the author of prize-winning essays on secrecy, selective visibility, and industrial travel in the Enlightenment.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Homer understood that artisans' work had deadly consequences: "And the crippled Smith brought all his art to bear on a dancing circle, broad as the circle Daedalus once laid out..." (Iliad). Historian Bertucci (Yale) constructs a tour de force about "artistes" (artisans with esprit) who worked to elevate their status, promote their epistemological methods, and assume official power in 18th-century France. The author draws heavily from archives. Her focus is 1666 to 1751: from the founding of the Académie Royal des Science to the initial publication of Diderot's Encyclopédie. The thematic/chronological structure highlights encyclopedic mechanical arts projects; chapters examine savants, artistes, and the artiste-directed Sociétés des Arts. Bertucci describes how artistes used writing, notable artifacts, and teaching to champion their superior practical knowledge, commitment to improvement, and unique ability to advance state/public interests. She argues that Enlightenment ideals of improvement, progress, and useful knowledge emerged from ubiquitous artistes whose world created an "artisanal enlightenment." Alas, the Encyclopédie privileged philosophy; Clio forgot the significance of ambitious and widely distrusted men. But Achilles's shield and Daedalus's wings conveyed immortal fame. Artistes and their enlightenment have their deserved recognition in Bertucci's excellent study, with its superb illustrations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; professionals. --Lorraine A. Rollo, Millersville University, formerly