All Souls Seminar in Medieval and Early Modern Science

Studying nature in medieval Europe was dramatically different from doing it in 1700. In the Middle Ages, nature was made of four elements, the Earth was at the center of the universe, natural knowledge circulated in philosophical manuscripts, and oceanic navigation was practiced only by a few. But by Newton’s time, matter was made of atoms, the Earth rotated around the Sun, mathematicians debated philosophers in printed books, and scholars collected data from across European empires. Historians have often called these changes a Scientific Revolution. But unlike a normal revolution, this one happened slowly, alongside major cultural, religious, and institutional changes.

This seminar presents the latest research to understand historical changes in the making of science. By doing so, it aims to foster new conversations and deepen old ones in the history of medieval and early modern science.

Venue: Old Library, All Souls College, unless otherwise stated
Type: Seminar Series
Series organiser: Dr Nuno Castel-Branco (All Souls College, Oxford)
Timing: Thursdays 14:15-16:00, Weeks 1-2, 4-7
Web Address: https://earlymodern.web.ox.ac.uk/seminar-programmes#collapse4764676
Organising department: All Souls College

Talks:

Wednesday 30 April 2025

Galileo’s Letters: Seeing Presence, Absence, and Shadows in a Scientific Legacy
Date: 30 April 2025, 14:15 - 16:00
Speaker : Professor Hannah Marcus (Harvard)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Old Library
Organisers: TBA
Hosts: TBA

Wednesday 7 May 2025

Anatomical practice and the rise of post-mortems in the 16th- and early 17th-centuries
Date: 7 May 2025, 14:15 - 16:00
Speaker : Professor Michael Stolberg (Universität Würzburg)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Old Library
Organisers: TBA
Hosts: TBA

Wednesday 21 May 2025

"An astrologus praedicere possit futura contingentia? Nego": Astrology in Student Disputations at Oxford and Cambridge
Date: 21 May 2025, 14:15 - 16:00
Speaker : Dr Michelle Aroney (Magdalen College, Oxford)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Old Library
Organisers: TBA
Hosts: TBA

Wednesday 28 May 2025

Relations of Religious Experience and Scientific Practices in Albert the Great
Date: 28 May 2025, 14:15 - 16:00
Speaker : Professor Katja Krause (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science)
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Old Library
Organisers: TBA
Hosts: TBA

Editors: Laura Spence, Belinda Clark, Claire MacLeod, Nuno Castel-Branco