The Sociability of Paper and Isaac Newton’s Archive with Scott Mandelbrote

Join us for a presentation from Scott Mandelbrote (University of Cambridge) about what we can learn from the archive of Sir Isaac Newton.
About this Event

The Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book is pleased to present The Sociability of Paper and Isaac Newton’s Archive with Scott Mandelbrote, fellow and Perne and Ward librarian at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.

This talk will consider what we can learn from the archive of Isaac Newton if we approach it by asking about the people and techniques involved in the material processes of its creation and the way in which information circulated on paper through it.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) perhaps needs little introduction either as a mathematician and physicist or as an administrator (or so-called ‘autocrat of science’). His archive has been the subject of sustained study since he died, particularly since the 1950s, with published editions of his correspondence, mathematical and optical papers, and online projects devoted to his chymical papers and to the archive as a whole. Very little of this interest, however, has considered the archive from the standpoint of the material history of the book: how (at a physical, material, and social level) did Newton read, write, and disseminate his ideas. With whom did Newton collaborate in making his work, in what contexts, and for what purposes? How did material constraints shape Newton’s own and others' sense of what he was doing and how did he deploy his own knowledge and control of his archive to manufacture intellectual stature and image?

This talk will consider whether, as we begin to take these questions into account, the picture of scientific authorship and authority which has been associated with Newton’s life might change, and whether, as a result, we should reconsider the form of scientific activity and publication in the late seventeenth century. The paper of the archive shifts from being a vehicle to transport readers into the mind of the author, and becomes a vehicle for exchange, facilitating communication and the sharing of ideas and experience among contemporaries.

This event is open to all with registration and will be held at Regenstein Library.

Event attendees without a University of Chicago ID may obtain a library entry pass on arrival by checking in at Regenstein Library’s entry desk and presenting a current, government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, CityKey, state ID, or passport to confirm identity. Get more visitor information.