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by Vinzenz Brinkmann (Editor)
The ancient cultures of East Asia, the Near and Middle East and the Mediterranean were characterised by spectacular scientific findings and advances, which are mirrored and enhanced in their mythology. Hesitantly in the late Gothic period, but more insistently during the Italian Renaissance, this knowledge gradually permeated Europe, although initially meeting with resistance from the Christian Church. The book accompanying the exhibition deals with the latest research on science and technology in myth and art from antiquity to the golden age of Arab-Islamic culture. Light is shed on the early precise records of astronomical events, as well as the technology of automata and kinetic sculpture. The latest findings relating e.g. to the famous Greek Antikythera mechanism, a form of analogue computer, or the sophisticated revolving ceilings and floors of the banquet halls in the Roman Emperor Nero's palace illustrate the significance of sculpture's automatisation in reference to the natural sciences in Islamic-Arabic culture.
- Magnificent works of art reflecting ancient myths, models of animated sculptures, impressive scientific apparatus and automata from the Mediterranean and Islamic-Arab cultural spheres
- International authors reflect on current research into the history of science in conjunction with art technology
- Exhibition: Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung, Frankfurt/M., 08.03.2023 to 21.01.2024
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Author Biography
Essays by Vinzenz Brinkmann, Lis Brack-Bernsen, Shiyanthi Thavapalan, Adrienne Mayor, Oliver Primavesi, Françoise Villedieu, Tony Freeth, Effie Photos-Jones, Jakob Salzmann, Roshdi Rashed, Martina Müller-Wiener
Vinzenz Brinkmann studied Classical Archaeology in Munich and Athens. He teaches at the Ruhr University Bochum and at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Since 2007, Vinzenz Brinkmann has been the head of the Antiquities and Asia departments of the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection.
Lis Brack-Bernsen teaches history of science at the University of Regensburg. Her field of research is the history of astronomy and mathematics with a special focus on Babylonian astronomy and its origins.
Shiyanthi Thavapalan studied history at York University in Canada and Near Eastern history and Assyriology at Yale University. Her research fields include polychromy in ancient sculpture, ancient technologies, Mesopotamian cultural and economic history, and ancient color language.
Adrienne Mayor is a historian of ancient science and folklorist. Mayor specializes in ancient history and the study of "folk science." She is a research fellow in the Department of Classics and the Program for the History and Philosophy of Science at Stanford University.
Jakob Salzmann, classical archaeologist, research fellow at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection.
Oliver Primavesi studied Classical Philology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Oxford. He teaches Greek philology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. His main research interests are classical philology, early Greek epic, pre-Socratic natural philosophy, philosophy of Aristotle, text and image in ancient literature. Among other awards, he received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2010.
Françoise Villedieu is an archaeologist and director emerita of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris.
Effie Photos-Jones, archaeologist, Honorary Research Fellow (Faculty of Humanities), University of Glasgow.
Tony Freeth is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University College London. He is founding member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project at UCL, London. He studied mathematics at Cambridge and Bristol.
Roshdi Hifni Rashed is a historian of science and mathematics. He is specifically focused on medieval Islamic mathematics. He has taught at the University of Paris VII and at the University of Tokyo. He is research director of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris, and was director of the Centre d'Histoire des Sciences et Philosophies Arabes et Médiévales in Paris. He is the recipient of many awards and prizes.
Martina Müller-Wiener studied Islamic Studies, Islamic Philology, Art History and Ethnology in Frankfurt and Mainz, was a research assistant at the Seminar for Oriental Art History at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. She is a staff member of several archaeological excavations in Syria and Afghanistan. She teaches at the TU Berlin and at the Goethe University Frankfurt/Main.
