Renaissance Fun is about the technology of entertainment in the forms of stage machinery, theatrical special effects, gardens, fountains, automata, and self-playing musical instruments from the Renaissance. How did the machines behind these shows work? How exactly were chariots filled with singers let down onto the stage? How were flaming dragons made to fly across the sky? How were seas created on stage? How did mechanical birds imitate real birdsong? What was “artificial music,” three centuries before Edison and the phonograph? How could pipe organs be driven and made to play themselves by waterpower alone? And who were the architects, engineers, and craftsmen who created these wonders? While this book is offered as entertainment in itself, it also offers a more serious scholarly argument centered on the enormous influence of Vitruvius and Hero, two ancient writers who composed on the subject. (Publisher)
...MoreReview Luciano Boschiero (2022) Review of "Renaissance fun : the machines behind the scenes". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 251-253).
Review Wendy C. Nielsen (2022) Review of "Renaissance fun : the machines behind the scenes". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 654-655).
Review Joseph Wachelder (January 2022) Review of "Renaissance fun : the machines behind the scenes". Technology and Culture (pp. 239-241).
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