UPenn Conference: “The Materiality of Scientific Knowledge: Image-Text-Book”, Fall 2016

Forum On Translation

Title: The Materiality of Scientific Knowledge: Image–Text–Book

When: September 30, 2016 October 1, 2016

Where: Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, Kislak Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, 6th floor

Throughout the long history of scientific investigation, ideas were developed, shared, and validated through various print and art forms. These material factors—the conditions of writing, printing, and illustration—underwrite the exchange and sharing of scientific knowledge from classical antiquity to the nineteenth century. This symposium will investigate the myriad, often contradictory vocabularies we use to analyze images and text in scientific writing. Its goal is to promote more fruitful interdisciplinary, collaborative work in the history of scientific thought.

This symposium is generously sponsored by the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania; the Penn Humanities Forum; and Rare Book School, University of Virginia, with funding from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, through The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography.

Symposium presented by Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Penn Libraries; Penn Humanities Forum; and Rare Book School, University of Virginia.

Full symposium details, including schedule and registration


Symposium Keynote Address presented by Penn Humanities Forum

September 30, 2016 /  5:00–6:30PM, Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South St.

“Copying as Translation: Direct Observation vs. Copied Scientific Illustrations”
Sachiko Kusukawa
Fellow in History and Philosophy of Science, Trinity College, University of Cambridge