Description
Book SynopsisWhy did so many early modern scientific authors dislike and distrust the printing press?While there is no denying the importance of the printing press to the scientific and medical advances of the early modern era, a closer look at authorial attitudes toward this technology refutes simplistic interpretations of how print was viewed at the time. Rather than embracing the press, scientific authors often disliked and distrusted it. In many cases, they sought to avoid putting their work into print altogether. In Loath to Print, Nicole Howard takes a fresh look at early modern printing technology from the perspective of the natural philosophers and physicians who relied on it to share ideas. She offers a new perspective on scientific publishing in the early modern period, one that turns the celebration of print on its head. Exploring both these scholars' attitudes and their strategies for navigating the publishing world, Howard argues that scientists had many concerns, including the potenti
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction. "A Vast Ocean of Books"
1. Authorial Attitudes toward Print
2. "To the Unprejudiced Reader": The Rhetoric of Prefaces in Early Modern Science
3. The Controlled Distribution of Scientific Works
4. "A True and Ingenious Discovery": New Print Technologies and the Sciences
5. Silent Midwives: The Role of Editors in Early Modern Science
Conclusion. Reluctance Overcome
Notes
Index
