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© March 2004
revised 25 June 2008
THE PLAYERS section of she-philosopher.com emphasizes some of the forgotten figures and hidden histories of science.
The growth of science in general — including the spectacular successes which we associate with the age of scientific revolution — was attributable to a wider range of individuals and socio-intellectual networks than are credited in typical “heroes of science”-type histories.
My starting list of neglected players totals six: Margaret Cavendish, Cornelis Drebbel, Virginia Ferrar, Robert Hooke, Athanasius Kircher, and Mary Trye. Each of the six is a fascinating case study in her/his own right, as well as a central player in the global network of overlapping circles of influence which nurtured the growth of science in the early-modern period. Hence, a monograph on Robert Hooke’s “Lecture explicating the memory, and how we come by the notion of time” (available in the she-philosopher.com Library) mentions a range of historical actors and influences — Albertus Magnus, Aristotle, John Aubrey, Francis Bacon, Roger Bacon, Robert Boyle, Giovanni Domenica Campanella, Hieronymous Cardanus, Margaret and William Cavendish, René Descartes, John Evelyn, Joseph Glanvill, Thomas Hobbes, Juan de Dios Huarte, Elizabeth Joceline, Henry More, Mary More, Katherine Philips, William Shakespeare, Bernardino Telesio, Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Waller, John Wilkins — some of whom are well known today, but the majority of whom are not. Indeed, such “minor players” have become what postmodernists call “erasures” within most standard histories of science.
Given my own predominant interest in the social relations of science, I try here with my case studies to reconstruct some of the socio-historical context within which each of the 6 players conducted scientific inquiries. There are important historical links between each and every one of the 6 players, suggesting an overall shared intellectual, visual and material culture, if not direct lines of influence. In most cases, these historical links constitute a chain of relatively safe inferences, but I shall occasionally make what Edgar Wind called “audacious interpolations,” as well.
Because my research into the 6 players and their socio-cultural milieu is an ongoing project, the case studies offered here are, by design, liminal, tending more to miscellany or bricolage than any single grand narrative. I do have a unifying theme for each, though, as indicated by each player’s title page.
the players
- Alchemical Engineer extraordinarius
Cornelis Drebbel (1572–1633)
- the Scientist as mystagogue
Athanasius Kircher, S.J. (1602–1680)
- Mad Madge
Margaret Cavendish, duchess of Newcastle (1623–1673)
- a young Lady Discoverer
Virginia Ferrar (1626–1688)
- “the greatest Mechanick this day in the world”
Robert Hooke, F.R.S. (1635–1702/3)
- Medicatrix, or, the Woman-Physician
Mary Trye (fl. 1675)
In addition to these player pages, there is material on the 6 players scattered throughout the she-philosopher.com Web site. For example, a biography of Kircher and a topic essay on his celebrated Musæum are to be found in the IN BRIEF section of the site; and there are multiple Hooke-related items to be found in the LIBRARY and GALLERY, and even in the IN BRIEF topic on “the bishop and the antipodes.”
To find references to the 6 players elsewhere in the site, use the Search this site link at the top left of all upper-tier pages, and search, e.g., on the name “ferrar” or “drebbel.” The keyword index used by she-philosopher.com’s search tool is updated whenever new material is added to the site, and site content has been designed specifically for use with such an integrated search tool.
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