On Joachim Jungius' Texturæ Contemplatio

The book offers an analysis of Joachim Jungius' Texturæ Contemplatio - a hitherto-unpublished manuscript written in German and Latin that deals with weaving, knitting and other textile practices, attempting to present as well various fabrics and textile techniques in a scientifical and even mathematical framework. The book aims to provide the epistemological, technical and historic framework for Jungius' manuscript, inspecting fabrics, weaving techniques as well as looms and other textile machines in Holy Roman Empire during the Early Modern Period. It also offers a unique investigation of the notion and metaphor of 'texture' during this period, and explores, within the wider context of the 'meeting' or 'trading zones' thesis, the relations between artisans and natural philosophers during the 17th century. The book is of interest to historians of philosophy and mathematics, as well as historians of technology.

Auteur

Michael Friedman is a Senior Lecturer at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas. The focus of his research is on how material, visual and symbolical knowledge and practices in mathematics interact with each other. More specifically, his research examines the material practices of mathematics (folding, weaving, braiding, knotting, as well as three-dimensional models) and how symbolical-mathematical knowledge was prompted by them. Recent publications: A History of Folding in Mathematics. Mathematizing the Margins (Birkhäuser, 2018); Grenzen der Formalisierung. Von Leibniz bis Lacan (with Angelika Seppi. Spector, 2021); Ramified Surfaces. On Branch Curves and Algebraic Geometry During the 20th Century (Birkhäuser, 2022)