The Body of the Artisan by Pamela H. Smith, University of Chicago Press, $35/£24.50, ISBN 0226763994 Reviewed by Simon Ings
WHAT IS the use of yet another book about the Renaissance? Do we need one more account of the beginnings of science? Pamela Smith’s The Body of the Artisan is eloquent evidence that we do. She traces the birth of modern science, not through any dry theory of empiricism, but through the practical work of artisans over three centuries.
Abandoning scholasticism for the evidence of their own eyes, Renaissance artisans secularised knowledge. Through their hands-on knowledge, these undervalued workers…
