Institute for Research in the Humanities

James R. Barnes

Position title: William Coleman Dissertation Fellow (2021-2022)

Address:
Dissertator, Department of History, UW–Madison

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Histories Written in the Margins: Early Modern Scientific Print Cultures and Practices in the Work of Christopher Borr

This dissertation explores the work of the seventeenth-century Jesuit astronomer Christopher Borri. Among the first to teach and adopt the theories of Tycho Brahe, Borri was a critical figure in spreading novel astronomical theories and discoveries not only throughout Europe, but also to East Asia and the Arab speaking world. This dissertation explores how his association with the Jesuits, his role instructing pilots in astronomical navigation at the “Aula da Esfera” in Portugal, and early modern print culture shaped his creation of knowledge about the natural world.

James R. Barnes is a Ph.D. candidate in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology Program, History Department, UW-Madison.