Weekly Response 1 – Long on Mechanical Knowledge

Please view the film (We will view this in class.)

“Leonardo DaVinci The Man Who Wanted To Know Everything” (Feel free to skip the re-creation of his parachute and tank); Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rog5i2n1QVs

And read:

Pamela O. Long , “Power, Patronage, and the Authorship of Ars: From Mechanical Know-How to Mechanical Knowledge in the Last Scribal Age,” Isis , Vol. 88, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 1-41, available in the Readings Folder and on JSTOR at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/235824

Then discuss:

In her essay, Long examines many topics mentioned in lecture and in Misa’s chapter (patronage, Alberti, Da Vinci and DiGiorgio etc). Choose one of the authors she covers and discuss how her analysis relates to these topics. Based on the film Leonardo DaVinci how does he fit into Long’s discussion of Prince Practitioners?

Weekly Response 6 – Edison and Light ?? Please view the film:?Thomas A. Edison: Father of Invention, A & E Television (New York, NY: A & E Television Networks, 1996); Available on the Hagerty Library catalogue at: http://records.library.drexel.edu/record=b2133926~S9? And discuss:?Edison is portrayed rather herocially in this film, what would you do to present a more balanced view of Edison the man and inventor? Based on my lecture, discuss why or why not Edison should be considered the creator of the light bulb?

Weekly Response 7 – Mertins on Modernism ?? Please read:?Detlef Mertins, “The Enticing and Threatening Face of Prehistory: Walter Benjamin and the Utopia of Glass,’ Assemblage , No. 29 (Apr., 1996), pp. 6-23; Available in the Readings Folder and on JSTOR at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171392? And discuss:?Mertins’ article is a rich discussion of the connections between modern materials (such as glass, iron, and cement), art and architecture (Bauhaus and De Stil), and ideology (utopianism, modernism), and technology. Select one example from his discussion and discuss how these categories come together (for example, in the design or construction of a structure, or in a discussion of the role of technology in society (see the section on Poverty for this last idea).