12-24-2025, 07:12 PM
I'm a history graduate student focusing on the shift from Aristotelian natural philosophy to early modern science, and I'm particularly interested in the social and institutional factors that enabled the Scientific Revolution. While we often focus on figures like Galileo and Newton, I'm researching the role of artisan knowledge and craft traditions in shaping empirical methods. For scholars in this area, what are the most compelling arguments or sources regarding the influence of practical, non-university knowledge on the development of the new science in the 16th and 17th centuries?