Dissertation Research: Advertising and Selling Science; The case of early Modern Netherlands

众所周知，17世纪的科学革命不仅是由自然哲学家推动的，也是由工匠推动的，特别是在显微镜、解剖学和造船等领域。最近的研究认为，文艺复兴时期和早期的现代工匠对他们的做法秘而不宣，只有在寻求赞助和投资时才会公布他们的科学成就。这篇论文《科学史上的改进格兰特》唤起了人们对一个同样重要但被忽视的现象的关注，即一些有抱负的17世纪荷兰工匠利用插图出版物的形式，在日益增长的国际市场上宣传和推广他们的科学产品和成就。由于大多数潜在买家都是绅士或贵族的自然哲学家，工匠们在他们的出版物中使用自然哲学的文本修辞学和荷兰绘画的视觉美学，获得了作为卖家的信誉。因此，神秘的工匠在印刷作品中公开披露了他们的一些科学成果，但绝不是全部，这些成果可以被解释为进一步的商业产品的广告，也可以被解释为推进科学的自然哲学项目的一部分。他们还用荷兰绘画传统塑造的插图大量地为这些出版物插图，以激发注重审美的绅士或贵族的兴趣。这项研究的学术价值在于，它透视了一些关于公共领域发展的主张，特别是关于早期现代科学的公共性质的主张(哈贝马斯·、古德曼1994年、沙平和谢弗1985年、戈德加1995年、博茨和瓦奎特1994年)。它认为，早期的现代文学共和国被理想地设想为一个开放、自由、国际交流科学思想的空间，荷兰工匠将其用作广告和销售科学产品的市场。它还依赖于最近关于赞助网络对手工出版战略的影响的研究(Long 2002，Smith 1997，Lefevre 2004，Eamon 1994，Iliffe 1992)；并认为，在早期现代资本主义荷兰的背景下，工匠不再依赖赞助网络，而是整个欧洲广告触手可及的日益增长的客户市场。拟议项目的影响是，它将荷兰重新置于欧洲科学史的地图上(但参见Cook 1992年和Berkel等人)。1998年)。美国和英国对早期现代欧洲的研究主要集中在英国、法国或意大利。即使在荷兰科学史上，也没有对荷兰科学的发展与荷兰共和国作为欧洲商业转口港的新兴角色之间的密切关系给予足够的重视(伊斯雷尔，1990)。此外，该项目打算在美国和荷兰的科学史学家之间建立更紧密的联系，研究结果将在美国和欧洲的会议上传播。进一步的传播将包括主要科学史、医学史、技术史和艺术史期刊的出版物，以及最终的图书出版。NSF基金将支持前往荷兰、英国和俄罗斯的相关档案。

It is well recognized that the 17th-century scientific revolution was driven not only by natural philosophers, but also by artisans, especially in fields like microscopy, anatomy and shipbuilding. Recent studies have argued that Renaissance and early modern artisans were secretive about their practices, and only published their scientific achievements when in search of patronage and investment. This Dissertation Improvement Grant in the History of Science calls attention to an equally important, but neglected phenomenon, namely, that some aspiring 17thcentury Dutch artisans used the form of illustrated publication to advertise and promote their scientific products and accomplishments in a growing international market. As most potential buyers were gentlemanly or aristocratic natural philosophers, artisans gained credibility as vendors by employing in their publications the textual rhetorics of natural philosophy and the visual aesthetics of Netherlandish painting. Secretive artisans therefore openly disclosed some, but never all of their scientific results in printed works that could be interpreted as advertisements for further, commercially available products, and also as part of the natural philosophical project of advancing science. They also lavishly illustrated these publications with illustrations shaped by the conventions of Dutch painting so as to incite the interest of aesthetically oriented gentlemen or aristocrats. The intellectual merit of this research is that it puts into perspective some of the claims that have been put forward concerning the development of the public sphere, and especially concerning the public nature of early modern science (Habermas 1989, Goodman 1994, Shapin and Schaffer 1985, Goldgar 1995, Bots and Waquet 1994). It argues that the early modern Republic of Letters, which was ideally conceived of as a space for the open and free, international exchange of scientific ideas, was used by Dutch artisans as a marketplace for advertising and selling scientific products. It also relies on recent studies on the influence of patronage networks on artisanal publication strategies (Long 2002, Smith 1997, Lefevre 2004, Eamon 1994, Iliffe 1992); and argues that, within the context of early modern capitalist Netherlands, artisans no longer relied on patronage networks, but on a growing market of customers within the reach of advertisements all around Europe. The impact of the proposed project is that it puts the Netherlands back on the map of European history of science (but see Cook 1992 and Berkel et al. 1998). American and English research on early modern Europe has mostly focused on England, France or Italy. Even within Dutch histories of science, not enough attention has been paid to the close relationship between the development of Dutch science and the Dutch Republic's emerging role as a European commercial entrepot (Israel 1990). In addition, the project intends to establish closer connections between American and Dutch historians of science, and findings of the research will be disseminated at talks in the United States and in Europe. Further dissemination will include publications in major history of science, history of medicine, history of technology and history of art journals, as well as an eventual book publication. NSF funds will support travel to relevant archives in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Russia.