William Hamilton's celebrated letters, articles and publications embodied his experiences as a direct observer of nature. This paper tracks their different courses through preparation, production, distribution and consumption to expose the networks through which Hamilton's knowledge was made and moved. It makes a detailed study of the changes incurred when his experiences were translated between written, oral, painted and printed formats. Sensitive to contemporary notions of curiosity, it then links these changes to the distinct audiences that each embodiment found. The paper frames each piece as an opportunity for beholders to become virtual witnesses in order to describe people's diverse encounters with Hamilton's work. This model is developed to highlight the agency and diversity of readers and the importance of physical format for the movement of witnessing tools. The exploration of Campi Phlegraei demonstrates how this method of communications study can be a valuable approach to the history of science.
...MoreDescription “A detailed study of the changes incurred when [Hamilton's] experiences were translated between written, oral, painted and printed formats.” (from the abstract)
Similar Citations
Book
Belli, Gabriella;
Giacomoni, Paola;
Ottani Cavina, Anna;
(2003)
Montagna: Arte, scienza, mito da Dürer a Warhol
(/isis/citation/CBB000741141/)
Article
Domenico Laurenza;
(2019)
The study of fossils in Leibniz's Protogaea: towards a reconctruction of the role of technological models in early modern paleontology
(/isis/citation/CBB565261905/)
Book
Ciancio, Luca;
(2005)
Teatro del mutamento: immagini del Tempio di Serapide tra geologia, architettura e pittura di paesaggio (1750--1850)
(/isis/citation/CBB000741100/)
Chapter
Nicoletta Brazzelli;
(2022)
Geografie mostruose: Frankenstein, il ghiaccio e il vulcano
(/isis/citation/CBB409477180/)
Book
Federico Prina;
(2022)
Vulcani. Tra geografia e letteratura
(/isis/citation/CBB040204142/)
Book
Scarth, Alwyn;
(2009)
Vesuvius: A Biography
(/isis/citation/CBB001020592/)
Article
Luigina Vezzoli;
Claudia Principe;
(2020)
Monte Amiata volcano (Tuscany, Italy) in the history of volcanology, Part 1: its role in the debates on extinct volcanoes, sources of magma, and eruptive mechanisms (1733-1935)
(/isis/citation/CBB903002196/)
Book
Nicole Howard;
(2022)
Loath to Print: The Reluctant Scientific Author, 1500–1750
(/isis/citation/CBB894126119/)
Article
Vaccari, Ezio;
(2008)
Volcanic Travels and the Development of Volcanology in the 18th Century
(/isis/citation/CBB001036096/)
Book
Ciancio, Luca;
(2010)
La Fucina segreta di Vulcano: Naturalisti veneti e aristocratici britannici del Settecento alla scoperta del territorio veronese
(/isis/citation/CBB001031639/)
Chapter
Grimm, Gunter E.;
(2004)
Argumentation und Schreibstrategie. Zum Vulkanismus-Diskurs im Werk von Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus
(/isis/citation/CBB000670140/)
Article
Oslund, Karen;
(2002)
Imagining Iceland: Narratives of Nature and History in the North Atlantic
(/isis/citation/CBB000202582/)
Article
Francesco Luzzini;
(2014)
I fanghi prodigiosi. Gli studi naturalistici sulle salse emiliane
(/isis/citation/CBB858543623/)
Article
Taylor, Kenneth L.;
(2009)
Desmarest's “Determination of Some Epochs of Nature through Volcanic Products” (1775/1779)
(/isis/citation/CBB001023825/)
Article
Nelson, E. Charles;
(2001)
Patrick Browne M.D. (c. 1720--1790), an Irish doctor in the Caribbean: His residence on Saint Croix (1757--1765) and his unpublished accounts of volcanic activity on Montserrat
(/isis/citation/CBB000100696/)
Chapter
Candela, A.;
(2009)
On the Earth's Revolutions: Floods and Extinct Volcanoes in Northern Italy at the End of the Eighteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB000952225/)
Chapter
Nicoli, Miriam;
(2013)
Faced with the Flood: Scholarly Working Practices and Editorial Transformations at the Highpoint of Scientific Publications
(/isis/citation/CBB001202269/)
Book
John Potts;
Nigel Helyer;
(2022)
Science Meets Art
(/isis/citation/CBB965606422/)
Article
Oliver Hochadel;
(2022)
Facing Our Ancestors: The Craft of the Paleoartist
(/isis/citation/CBB999136109/)
Article
Kelly Krause;
(2016)
A Framework for Visual Communication at Nature
(/isis/citation/CBB025509663/)
Be the first to comment!