Article ID: CBB000850064

Making Fire Work: Pyrotechnics and Natural Philosophy (2008)

unapi

Everyone is familiar with fireworks, common to festivals and celebrations across the world. At first glance, the history of science might appear to have little to do with the history of these explosive devices. However, fireworks were an important element of court culture in Europe, which relied on spectacle and festival to manifest the power of princes. From the fifteenth century, courts regularly set off fireworks around elaborate theatrical scenery and ephemeral temples, fascinating audiences with a variety of exotic motions and effects exploding in the night sky. Fireworks also intrigued natural philosophers, and over several centuries there were diverse interactions among the sciences and pyrotechny.

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Authors & Contributors
Werrett, Simon
Caccioppoli, Carmen
Mares, Donatella
Rispoli, Gennaro
Chimusso, Maddalena
Paolo Bossi
Journals
Ambix: Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
Atti e Memorie, Rivista di Storia della Farmacia
Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry
Bruniana & Campanelliana: Ricerche Filosofiche e Materiali Storico-testuali
Publishers
Aracne
Edizioni Firenze
University of Rochester Press
University of Chicago Press
Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Filosofia, Centro Internazionale per la Storia delle Università e della Scienza
Springer-Verlag
Concepts
Chemistry
Natural philosophy
Technology
Alchemy
Medicine
Inventors and invention
People
Leonardo da Vinci
Billich, Anton Günther
Sennert, Daniel
Reuleaux, Franz
Paracelsus, Theophrast von Hohenheim
Libavius, Andreas
Time Periods
17th century
18th century
16th century
15th century
19th century
Renaissance
Places
Italy
Germany
Lombardy
Milan (Italy)
England
Naples (Italy)
Institutions
Herzog August Bibliothek
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