081: Craft Knowledge and Creativity From The Past Made Ready For The Future - Pamela H. Smith

<p><strong>Guest Overview</strong></p><p>Born and raised in a small isolated California town, influenced by what she describes as a ‘consistent, persistent, and gentle’ math teacher father and the ‘artistic and creative’ mother, serendipity led her to discover her love of the history of science at Wollongong University in Australia and then commit her life to be a historian of science - is this weeks guest Pamela H Smith.&nbsp;</p><p>Pamela is a Professor of History at Columbia University and Founding Director of the Center for Science and Society where she leads the <a href="https://scienceandsociety.columbia.edu/content/research-cluster-making-and-knowing-project" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Making and Knowing Research </a>Project.&nbsp;</p><br><p>In Part two we discuss how Pamela established the <a href="https://scienceandsociety.columbia.edu/content/research-cluster-making-and-knowing-project" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Making and Knowing Research </a>Project, its purpose and we discuss the origins of her most recent launch&nbsp;- The Secrets of Craft and Nature in Renaissance France. A Digital Critical Edition and it’s English Translation. That might sound dry to many but this is a remarkable sixteenth-century manuscript that contains over 900 recipes for making art objects, medical remedies, and materials for the household and workshop.&nbsp;</p><p>Pamela explains how the craft workshop practices record extensive first-hand experimentation with natural materials and provide unique insights into the material, technical, and intellectual world of the late sixteenth century and bring a better understanding of how and why nature was investigated, collected, and used in art in early modern Europe. It sheds light on the origins of the natural sciences in the creative labors of Renaissance artists and artisans’ workshops.&nbsp;</p><p>The digital critical edition is an open-source resource is available for anyone to experiment and follow the recipes and directions.&nbsp;</p><p>We also c