The focus of this workshop revisits and reconsiders the diverse literary forms that comprised early modern, natural philosophical knowledge and practice. From narrative poetry and allegorical romance, to philosophical theatre and thought experiments in prose, forms of ‘imaginative’ literature broadened the directions of natural philosophical pursuit and created new intellectual possibilities. This multi-disciplinary workshop teases out some of these complex threads, reflecting further on the place of imaginative literature within early modern natural philosophy.

Speakers and papers

• Debapriya Sarkar (University of Connecticut): The Romance of Scientific Method
• Liza Blake (University of Toronto): Magnetic Physics and Theatrical Psychology: William Gilbert and Ben Jonson’s Magnetic Lady
• Kathryn Murphy (University of Oxford): The Edge of the Self at the Limit of the World: Nathaniel Fairfax’s Thought Experiments

This free event is organised by Cassie Gorman (Anglia Ruskin University), one of the Directors of Scientiae.

Please find a full recording on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/akOvmWYZzEI