my 2 cents on Nolan's Odyssey - not a celebration of Odysseus's cunning, but the meditation on the decay of an entire system and culture. The film may also be part of a possible trilogy - Oppenheimer, The Odyssey are the fist 2 instalments connected thematically + monologues overlapping #Odyssey

📣There is still time to apply to either one of these cfp for next #RSA27 @rsaorg.bsky.social on #plantstudies🌿🌱🌳 The one is on #excrescences or bodies growing on/from/within plants #histsci - www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... The second is on #CraftingNature #arthistory - www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe...

link.springer.com/book/10.1007... New fascinatin book on #herbaria #herbals #plantstudies by Magdalena Grenda-Kurmanow is out with springer #craftingnature Do take a look! 🌿

my cfp for @rsaorg.bsky.social is⤵️ - I look forward to discussing excrescences growing from/within/on/as plants, as premodern knowledge of plant life and of intermediary bodies fascinates me a lot! fungi🍄, moss, insects🐛, corals🪸, stones, sheep🐑 growing from plants! Please, send abstract! #rsa

Fabrizio Baldassarri@fabribald.bsky.social · 4w ago

www.rsa.org/forms/FormRe... also here!

link.springer.com/article/10.1... Life is strange - sometimes we know it, sometimes we don't... the life of plants is something we know little about - fascinatingly enough my introduction to this special issue is published while I am in Edinburgh at the #HSS26 #eshs26 conference #plantlife

Life as we don’t know it: plant life in the history and philosophy of science an introduction - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences

This introduction discusses the challenges plant life has represented in the history and philosophy of science, and outlines the topics dealt with by the contributors. Understanding plant life, behavi...

link.springer.com

#HSS26 #ESHS26 #histsci #practitioners #artisans #instruments Our discussion of agriculture and practices went very well this morning at #eshshss joing meeting in Edinburgh

wrapping it #environmentalstudies #agriculture #histsci #botany #artisans #rustics

Fabrizio Baldassarri@fabribald.bsky.social · last mo.

If you are in Edinburgh in mid-July, please come to @hssgecc.bsky.social #HSS26 #ESHS26 #histsci - my panels on instruments and science are planned on Monday 13 from 9.15 am, the second starts at 11.00 am; the third starts at 14.30 (Uk time) - below the schedule: #artisans More info in the website

my CfP for #RSA27 #RSAPhilly @renaissancesociety.bsky.social on #excrescences such as fungi, moss, ivy, galls, and #spontaneouslife on plants is out! #plantstudies #plantlife #nature 🌿🪸🧽🍄🌱 Feel free to contact me and send proposals by the end of July!

CFP RSA27 – Excrescence, Spontaneous Beings, and Symbiotic Life: Plant Studies and Ecology in Premodern Times

Session Title *Excrescence, Spontaneous Beings, and Symbiotic Life: Plant Studies and Ecology in Premodern Times Type *Paper Panel Session Abstract (Max. 300 words) *Throug…

fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com

The first meeting is in September! our involvement in these cartesian studies are growing! #Descartes #Cartesianism #17thcentury

DescartesLab@descarteslab.bsky.social · last mo.

📢the poster for the 3rd series of #DescartesLab seminar is available - with a lot on #music,🎶 #mind,🧠 cartesianism, and a fascinating book on #Mersenne! Events are online - to attend, contact us or follow the link in the poster⤵️ Join us! #Descartes #Cartesianism #histphilo #histsci #17thcentury

From today’s Times letters page. #DefendExeterUni

If you are in Edinburgh in mid-July, please come to @hssgecc.bsky.social #HSS26 #ESHS26 #histsci - my panels on instruments and science are planned on Monday 13 from 9.15 am, the second starts at 11.00 am; the third starts at 14.30 (Uk time) - below the schedule: #artisans More info in the website

fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com/cfp-rsa-2027... Giancarla Periti and mine cfp for @rsaorg.bsky.social #RSA2027 #RSAPhila27 on #CraftingNature, we welcome contributions that address the production, cultivation and uses of veg materials, and the artistic and scientific knowledge #histsci #arthist🌱

CfP RSA 2027 – Crafting Nature: Vegetal Materials

CFP on RSA websiteThis is part of our project on natural crafts – here the series we direct. Despite their silent existence, plants were considered more than passive medicinal and agricultura…

fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com

The website for the new book series Crafting Nature is online @brepols.net I co-edit it with Giancarla Periti - and the board is rich with colleagues working on the intersections between #arthistory #histsci We look forward to book/volume proposals #bookseries www.brepols.net/series/HMCN

Malpighi on studying plant anatomy #plantstudies #botany #plantscience #histsci

Carlo Ginzburg has passed away - it is a very sad news, as he re-shaped historiography at large! Some of his work has been translated into many languages and influenced generations of scholars! www.ilpost.it/2026/06/17/c...

È morto lo storico Carlo Ginzburg

Fu uno degli studiosi italiani più tradotti e conosciuti all'estero, per i suoi lavori sulle classi subalterne medievali e moderne: aveva 87 anni

ilpost.it

link.springer.com/collections/... My special issue - Life as we don't know it - is taking shape on History and Philosophy fo the Life Sciences Journal --- more is to come soon! #plantstudies #plantlife #histsci #histphilo #lifescience #nature #buffon #candolle

Very happy to have the proofs of this contribution on Locke's botany for a volume on John Locke and the sciences, edited by Luisa Simonutti and Roberto Evangelista for @brepols.net #Locke #histphilo #histsci #plantstudies #pineapple #essences

One of my favourites too: plants in #histphilo #histsci, with a lot of attention on #Descartes! I believe that the intersections between science, #botany and politics are more than relevant and little explored #manipulatingflora Here my book in Italian works.hcommons.org/records/r187...

Peter Adamson@histphilosophy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Today's episode is one of my favorites among recent topics: a look at the formal French garden, and its surprisingly intricate relationship to philosophy under Louis XIV! (Also look out for a fabulous pun about him.) www.historyofphilosophy.net/french-garden #philsky #gardens #philosophy #podcast

May 22, 2026 - On this fascinating volume #DescartesLab #17thcentury #histphilo #histpolitics The discussion is in English - Maria Giulia Sestito and Tyler J. Thomas will discuss the book Ages ago, I published an article in Italian on Descartes and Machiavelli - works.hcommons.org/records/1m90...

Descartes e il «Principe» Il declino della politica nell'ordine della ragione

L'assenza di una teoria politica nel pensiero di Descartes ha sempre destato meraviglia, sospetti e fraintendimenti; si è giustificato questo disinteresse con l'isolamento autarchico e l'indifferenza ...

works.hcommons.org

DescartesLab@descarteslab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

On May 22nd (5pm Italy time/11 am New York time) #DescartesLab on a volume on Descartes and politics - Descartes was not Hobbes (but they corresponded) and some fascinating things arose in #Descartes #histphilo #17thcent Discussants will be M.G. Sestito and T.J. Thomas - in English

A very inspiring seminar by Daniel Garber on Leibniz's mechanistic approach #histsci #histphilo #17thcentury #mechanicism

Sergio #Landucci has recently died. He has been professor of history of philosophy at the University of Firenze - having published on Hegel, Kant, Spinoza and Descartes, he is an intellectual reference for many historians and philosophers #histphilo #Descartes #Spinoza

Hyacinto Matthioli as depicted by Marcello Malpighi in his Anatome Plantarum (1675-1679) #histplants #histsci #arthistory #craftingnature #botany #elegance

The parallel between Marcello Malpighi's representation of the optical nerve and Gian Lorenzo Bernini's rumpled garment is striking. Cloth, textile, and texture are a clear reference in the work of seventeenth-century anatomists #textile #analogies #histsci #anatomy #texture

Tomorrow, April 10, 2026, at 12.00 pm (Italy time), there is an online seminar on #UlisseAldrovani, organized by the group working on the National Editions of Aldrovandi @m-azzolini.bsky.social, Matteo Martelli and Caterina Manco Here the poster #nathistory #Renaissancestudies #histnat #histsci

Cartesio in Villa - The Cartesian Seminar at Villa Mirafiori continues with Simone Guidi's tali -- see below On Thursday 9th, at 4 pm (Italy time) #Descartes #Cartesianism #17thcentury #histphilo

is-ih.com/the-inaugura... The Inaugural Gaukroger Lecture: Prof. Sorana Corneanu on May 26th.

There’s 30% off selected CUP Renaissance titles for SAA, which means you can get Hans Sloane’s Library Collection for *only* £66.50 (lol) : discount code is 106468 www.cambridge.org/gb/universit...

Hans Sloane's Library Collection and the Production of Knowledge | Cambridge University Press & Assessment

cambridge.org

A large piece of turf #nature #naturalhistory #histsci #arthistory #environment #envhist

#bluestorians #skystorians does anyone know about a Discourse made by La Hire le cadet at the Academie Royale des Sciences in 1710, April 30th? Thanks #plantstudies #botany #histsci

Today, we focused on various aspects, from D's philosophy, to its presence in today's political life, but language is also important in differentiating between animals and humans and we engaged with Descartes's correspondence, as I did in my chapter on animals: works.hcommons.org/records/k0qp...

Animals - 6.1 Automata and animal bodies

Despite the efficacy of Descartes's animal-machine analogy, a crucial issue affects his mechanization of animal bodies. This reduction works for the animal in general, that is an abstract representati...

works.hcommons.org

DescartesLab@descarteslab.bsky.social · 4mo ago

📣Next meeting - #DescartesLab March 27, 2026 - at 3.00 pm (Italy time) / 10.00 am (NY city) Discussion of Elodie Cassan's Le langage de la raison (Vrin, 2023) #histphilo #17thcentury #ageofreason #Descartes #cartesianism - attendance is free fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/m...