BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Descartes's history of nature: method and experiments in the study
  of particular bodies - Fabrizio Baldassarri (Ca' Foscari University in Ve
 nice)
DTSTART:20221107T130000Z
DTEND:20221107T140000Z
UID:TALK182843@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Silvia M. Marchiori
DESCRIPTION:After having described the principles of his philosophy in Par
 ts 1 and 2 of the _Principia philosophiae_ (1644)\, Descartes investigated
  nature through a short history of natural phenomena in Parts 3 and 4. By 
 means of this original natural history\, he attempted to combine a univers
 al\, demonstrative science – whose method is a _mathesis universalis_ 
 – with the study of particular bodies. Not an easy task indeed. Descarte
 s buttressed this enterprise by means of observations and experiments\, as
  well as through the exchanges and collaborations with his peers. His corr
 espondence testifies to Descartes's engagement with particular objects at 
 large\, from floating and magic stones to brutes and diverse kind of anima
 ls. In this paper\, Fabrizio Baldassarri will explore the ways Descartes d
 ealt with such a various\, rare\, and curios whole of natural bodies\, whi
 ch attracted the attention of his contemporary and the curiosity of patron
 s. While challenging the disordered curiosity of scholars\, Descartes redu
 ced these bodies within the rational order of his method\, aiming at encom
 passing the whole nature within a geometrico-mathematical pattern as he di
 d with the rainbow. In particular\, Baldassarri will focus on some specifi
 c case studies\, the sensitive herb\, the Bologna stone\, fossils\, and va
 rious animals. Although Descartes failed to provide a complete mechanizati
 on and mathematization of nature\, he however engaged with the curiosities
  of his time that composed the cabinets des curiosités from a scientific 
 perspective and proving the universal ability of his method to order natur
 e and attain certainty.
LOCATION:Zoom
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR