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Résumé : Le roman de Javier Vásconez évoque l’Équateur sans jamais le nommer, puisque le protagoniste, un médecin praguois nommé Kronz, est amené à s’y installer après une période d’errance tant géographique qu’existentielle. L’intérêt de ce roman réside en partie dans l’évocation du pays « de la ligne imaginaire », selon l’expression imagée employée par le docteur Kronz. C’est donc le point de vue extérieur d’un protagoniste en proie à un mal-être intérieur que nous suivons de Prague à Quito, en passant par Barcelone. La découverte de la patrie de l’auteur nous permet d’évoquer une sorte « d’ exil à rebours », puisque le Praguois va faire sien ce pays dans lequel il échoue malgré lui, pourchassé par des fantômes du passé et des tracasseries administratives et judiciaires. Resumen : La novela de Javier Vásconez evoca el Ecuador sin nombrarlo jamás ; su protagonista, un médico de Praga llamado Kronz, se establece allá, después de un período geográfico y existencial. El interés de la novela radica en la evocación del país de « la línea imaginaria », como suele designarlo el protagonista. El lector descubre la patria del autor a través del punto de vista exterior del narrador que lleva a su protagonista de Praga a Quito, pasando por Barcelona. Es un como exilio al revés el que nos ofrece el autor, porque el checo va a arraigarse en su nuevo país, a pesar de unos fantasmas de su pasado y unos trámites en España que dificultan su viaje. Abstract: Javier Vasconez’s novel evokes Ecuador without ever naming the country, as the protagonist, a doctor from Prague and named Kronz, is led to settle there after a period of geographic and existential wandering. What is particularly interesting in the book is the evocation of Ecuador as the country of the “imaginary line” (referring to the equator), according to the metaphorical expression of doctor Kronz. From Prague to Quito, via Barcelona, the reader follows the external point of view of the protagonist, who is experiencing personal distress about his own identity. With the discovery of the author’s homeland, it is possible to talk about a “backward exile”, as the Praguer makes the country his own, despite the fact that he ends up there unintentionally and haunted by ghosts from the past and administrative and legal worries.

La chronique rédigée au début du XVIIe siècle par Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala est extraordinaire à plus d’un titre. Œuvre monumentale d’un Indien, elle est un véritable plaidoyer adressé au roi d’Espagne pour que ce dernier mette fin aux exactions commises par les colons au Pérou. Poma de Ayala est un cas pratiquement unique d’hybridation culturelle dans les Andes. Sa chronique, nourrie de sources européennes et andines, offre un regard acerbe sur le monde colonial et la société autochtone en pleine mutation. D’origine noble selon ses dires, christianisé par son demi-frère, interprète auprès de visiteurs ecclésiastiques, il oscille entre deux cultures. Ses modes de représentation s’en ressentent et son ouvrage est un parfait exemple du mélange de schémas mentaux d’origine indigène et européenne. Son profil particulier pousse à s’interroger sur sa place dans la société locale et son rôle de médiateur culturel entre les sociétés autochtone et coloniale. Resumen: La crónica escrita a principios del siglo XVII por Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala es extraordinaria en más de un sentido. Monumental obra de un indio, es una verdadera súplica al Rey de España para que éste ponga fin a los abusos cometidos por los colonos en el Perú. Poma de Ayala es un caso casi único de hibridación cultural en los Andes. Su crónica, nutrida de fuentes europeas y andinas, ofrece una mirada mordaz sobre el mundo colonial y la sociedad indigena en plena mutación. De origen noble, según él, cristianizado por su medio hermano, intérprete para los visitadores eclesiásticos, oscila entre dos culturas. Sus modos de representación lo dejan ver y su libro es un ejemplo perfecto de mezcla de patrones mentales de origen indígena y europeo. Su perfil particular conduce a cuestionar su lugar en la sociedad local y su papel como mediador cultural entre los indígenas y las autoridades coloniales. Abstract: The chronicle wrote by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala at the beginning of the XVIIth century is extraordinary. Monumental work of an Indian, it’s a plea to the king of Spain that it put an end to abuses by settlers in Peru. Poma de Ayala is a virtually unique case of cultural hybridization in the Andes. His work, nourished by Andean and European sources, offers a scathing look at the world and colonial indian society changing. Originally noble in his words, christened by his half-brother, interpreter for visitors ecclesiastics, he oscillates between two cultures. Its modes of representation and experience in his work is a perfect example of the mixture of mental patterns of native and European. It’s particular profile questions about his place in local society and it’s role of cultural mediator between native and colonial societies.

Resumen : En los años sesenta la música popular uruguaya experimenta un significativo proceso de cambio, paralelamente a la gestación y desarrollo de la dictadura cívico-militar, que se extiende hasta 1985. En el marco de una dialéctica entre la renovación conceptual e ideológica de la música, el candombe se convierte en un referente indiscutible en la construcción de las identidades de los uruguayos y en un factor de crítica al orden impuesto. Résumé : Dans les années soixante, la musique populaire uruguayenne a commencé un exceptionnel processus de changement, en parallèle à la formation et au développement de la dictature civique et militaire, qui dura jusqu’en 1985. Dans le contexte d’une dialectique entre le renouvellement conceptuel et le renouvellement idéologique de la musique, le candombe devient une composante indiscutable de la construction des identités des Uruguayens et un élément de critique de l’ordre imposé. Abstract: In the sixties, Uruguayan Popular Music experienced an exceptional process of change, in a parallel course to the raise and development of civic-military dictatorship, which runs until 1985. In the environment of the dialectic between conceptual and ideological renewal of music, the Candombe grows as an undeniable component of the construction of identity for the Uruguayans and at the same time as an element of criticism to the established order.

Résumé : À travers l’exemple de la Petite Havane à Miami en Floride, cet article s’intéresse à la reproduction du lieu d’origine par les communautés immigrées en terre d’accueil. L’exil des Cubains s’étale sur une trentaine d’années environ et malgré de nombreuses disparités entre les Cubains des années soixante et ceux des années quatre-vingts, la communauté s’enracine dans un même quartier « ethnique » qui reflète la nostalgie d’une île pré-castriste irrémédiablement disparue. La Petite Havane est plus qu’un espace physique elle représente un rêve, un substitut de La Havane et un référent identitaire pour tout Cubain vivant aux États-Unis. Abstract: Through the example of Little Havana in Miami Florida, this paper is exploring how the exile community is reproducing the original place in the new country. Cuban exile stretches as far as thirty years and inspite of the differences betwen the Cuban of the sixties and the one of the eighties, exile gets its roots in the same “ethnic” area which is reflecting the nostalgia of an island without Castro and lost for ever. Little Havana is more than a physical place it represents a dream, a substitute of Havana and an identity reference for all the Cuban people living in the United States. Resumen: A través del ejemplo de la Pequeña Habana en Miami, Florida, este artículo se interesa por la reproducción del lugar de origen por las comunidades inmigradas en tierra de acogida. El exilio de los cubanos se extiende por unos treinta años y a pesar de las numerosas disparidades entre los cubanos de los 60 y los de los 80, la comunidad se arraiga en el mismo barrio «étnico» que refleja la nostalgia de una isla pre-castrista irremediablemente desaparecida. La Pequeña Habana es más que un espacio físico, representa un sueño, un substituto de la Habana y un referente identitario para todo cubano que vive en Estados Unidos.

Résumé : L’Amérique latine abrite d’importantes communautés d’origine arabe, essentiellement d’origine syrienne, libanaise et palestinienne, parfois nommées localement los Turcos, les premières vagues d’émigrés arabes arrivés au 19e siècle étant munis à l’époque de documents de voyage ottomans. Si ces migrants d’origine arabe sont présents en tant que personnages dans la littérature latino-américaine, ils apparaissent aussi dans la littérature d’expression arabe du Proche-Orient, libanaise en particulier. Abstract: Numerous Arab communities live today all over Latin America, where they are sometimes called los Turcos, due to the fact that the first wave of migrants arrived in this area in the 19th century with Ottoman travel documents. The first immigrants came mainly from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. If these Arab immigrants became the characters of many Latin American novels, they also appear in a series of fiction books of the Middle Eastern Arabic literature, especially in Lebanon. Resumen: En América Latina viven grandes comunidades de origen árabe, principalmente de origen sirio, libanés y palestino, cuyos miembres a veces son llamados localmente Turcos, por haber llegado en el siglo XIX provistos de documentación de viaje expedida las autoridades otomanas. Si bien estos inmigrantes de origen árabe están presentes como personajes de la literatura latinoamericana, también aparecen en la literatura de expresión árabe de Oriente Medio, en particular en Líbano.

Two mystical pleas for the «no pensar nada»: the Third Spiritual alphabet (1527) and the Law of love (1530) by Francisco de Osuna A mystic principle rooted in negative theology (from Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite to Saint John of the Cross), the « no pensar nada » ("thinking-nothing") was strongly defended by Franciscan preacher and spiritual guide of the « Recollection », Francisco de Osuna, in a context of spiritual polemics marked by the condemnation of Toledo's « Alumbrados » ("the Illuminated") in 1525. Despite the Holy Office's strong pressure, and the threat of censorship, Osuna openly advocated the « thinking-nothing » principle in a chapter of the Third Spiritual Alphabet (1527), then in the Fourth Spiritual Alphabet also entitled the Law of love (1530). We intend to read and comment these two mystic pleas as meaningful examples of mystic writings under coercion., Principio místico anclado en la teología negativa (del Pseudo Dionisio Areopagita a San Juan de la Cruz), el «no pensar nada» fue defendido con vigor por el predicador franciscano y maestro espiritual del Recogimiento Francisco de Osuna, en una época de turbulencia espiritual marcada por la condena del alumbradismo castellano en 1525. Pese a la fuerte presión inquisitorial y la amenaza de la censura, Osuna aboga abiertamente a favor del «no pensar nada» en un capítulo del Tercer Abecedario espiritual (1525) y luego en su Cuarto Abecedario o Ley de amor (1530). Nos proponemos volver a leer estos alegatos místicos como ejemplos significativos de escritura mística bajo coacción., Principe mystique ancré dans la théologie négative (du Pseudo-Denys l'Aréopagite à saint Jean de la Croix), le « ne rien penser » (no pensar nada) a été vigoureusement défendu par le prédicateur et maître spirituel franciscain du Recueillement Francisco de Osuna, à une époque de turbulences spirituelles marquée par la condamnation des illuminés de Tolède (alumbrados) en 1525. En dépit d'une forte pression inquisitoriale et de la menace de la censure, Osuna plaide ouvertement pour le « ne rien penser » dans un chapitre du Troisième Abécédaire spirituel (1527), puis dans son Quatrième Abécédaire ou Loi d'amour (1530). Nous nous proposons de relire ces deux plaidoyers mystiques comme des exemples significatifs d'écriture mystique sous la contrainte

Resumen: El artículo pretende destacar las similares estrategias retóricas que Teresa de Cartagena, escritora judeoconversa del siglo XV, y santa Teresa de Jesús –conscientes de su atrevimiento– desarrollaron en sus textos para autorizar su discurso espiritual. En ambas autoras, percibimos la vivencia de una piedad fundamentada en la vivencia personal y sincera de lo trascendente, que desean y necesitan verbalizar por escrito desde su realidad de mujeres elegidas por Dios. Résumé : Cet article met en évidence les similitudes des stratégies rhétoriques que Teresa de Cartagena, écrivaine judéo-converse du XVe siècle, et sainte Thérèse de Jésus – conscientes toutes deux de leur audace – ont développé dans leurs textes afin de pouvoir développer leur discours spirituel. Chez les deux auteures, on perçoit la défense d’une expérience de vie personnelle et sincère de la transcendance, qu’elles entendent et doivent exprimer par écrit depuis leur réalité de femmes élues de Dieu. Abstract: This article tries to highlight similar rhetorical strategies that Teresa de Cartagena, a fifteenth century converted Jewish writer, and Santa Teresa de Jesús –both aware of their boldness– developed in their texts to authorize their spiritual speech. In both authors, a defense of their personal and sincere life lessons of trascendence can be perceived. They wish and need to verbalize in writing their reality of women chosen by God.

Resumen: En el artículo se recorre la trayectoria de los recelos ante el mundo visionario de las monjas desde finales del siglo XVI y a lo largo del siglo XVII. Se analiza la singularidad de la experiencia mística de Teresa de Jesús y las diversas actitudes de las órdenes religiosas (prevención y represión) ante la espiritualidad femenina. Se otorga especial atención al papel de la Inquisición de Cataluña en el control de las supersticiones femeninas. Abstract: In the article it traces the trajectory of misgivings about the visionary world of the nuns from the end of the XVI century and throughout the XVII century. The uniqueness of the mystical experience of Teresa de Jesus and the diverse attitudes of the religious orders (prevention and repression) against female spirituality are analyzed. Special attention is given to the role of the Inquisition of Catalonia in the control of female superstitious as well as in the surveillance of the visionary world of the nuns. Résumé: L’article analyse la méfiance au regard des nonnes visionnaires à partir de la fin du XVIe siècle et tout au long du XVIIe. On analyse le caractère unique de l’expérience mystique de Thérèse de Jésus et les diverses attitudes des ordres religieux (prévention et répression) face à la spiritualité féminine. Une attention particulière est accordée au rôle de l’Inquisition de Catalogne dans la surveillance des superstitions féminines.

Resumo: Invenção é termo usado aqui com o significado de descoberta, de acordo com o sentido etimológico de invenire, e «Molinista», corresponde no jargão das listas dos processados dos autos de fé em Portugal a molinosista, isto é, adepto de proposições de Miguel de Molinos condenadas em 1687 pela Inquisição Romana e pela Bula Coelestis Pastor de Inocêncio XI. Com recurso a exemplificação extraída de processos do Santo Ofício português, evidencia-se o sentido que «molinista» passou a ter em Portugal, país que conheceu e apreciou a obra de teologia mística de Molinos dada ao prelo, mas onde, desde cedo, restringindo-se ao campo da praxe moral, o epíteto passou a significar quase sempre, apenas, identificação com as proposições de desculpabilização moral de condutas, constantes do elenco das 68 proposições do referido teólogo. Résumé : Le terme «invention» est ici utilisé avec le sens de découverte, selon le sens étymologique de invenire, et «Molinista» correspond dans le jargon des listes des pénitents des «autos de fé» a molinosiste, ça veut dire adepte des propositions de Miguel de Molinos condamné en 1687 par l’Inquisition romaine et par la bulle Coelestis Pastor d’Innocent XI. A travers quelques exemples extraits des procès inquisitoriaux, nous essayons de mettre en évidence le sens que «Moliniste» a eu au Portugal, un pays qui a connu et apprécié le travail de théologie mystique de Molinos donnée à la presse, mais dans lequel, depuis les débuts, en se restreignant au domaine moral, l’épithète signifiait presque toujours que l’identification aux propositions de disculpation morale de conduites répréhensibles, incluses dans la liste des 68 propositions du théologien. Abstract: Invention is the term used here with the meaning of discovery, according to the etymological meaning of invenire, and «Molinist» corresponds in the jargon of «auto de fé» penitent lists, to «molinosist», equivalent term to Miguel de Molinos propositions adept that were condemned in 1687 by Innocent XI. With the help of some examples from the Portuguese Holy Office processes, we bring out the sense that « Molinist » acquired in Portugal, a country that knew and appreciated Molinos’ mystical theology, but where the epithet came to mean almost always, only, identification with the propositions of moral conduct exculpation included in the list of the 68 condemned propositions of this theologian.

Résumé : À la lecture des sources inquisitoriales du premier tiers du XVIe siècle, le processus d’objectivation théologique des innovations doctrinales s’avère complexe, sur fond de rébellion luthérienne, et les contraintes juridiques s’imposant aux magistrats sont tangibles. Entre 1517 – date de clôture du concile du Latran V – et 1530 – convocation de la Diète d’Augsbourg – les contours de l’orthodoxie font l’objet de dissentiment. À défaut de canons applicables, c’est graduellement que l’Inquisition façonne une jurisprudence lui permettant d’appréhender les éléments constitutifs des nouvelles hérésies. En l’absence de consensus en matière de foi, le Saint-Office surveille la réception en Espagne de la controverse religieuse et en évalue les répercussions. À travers le contrôle des prédicateurs, il entend maintenir l’uniformité doctrinale. À Tolède, en engageant des poursuites contre les alumbrados, le tribunal s’attache à déterminer les caractères de la genèse de l’hérésie en Espagne. Abstract: When perusing inquisitorial sources from the first third of the XVIth century, the theological objectification mechanism, as regards doctrinal innovations, in the context of Lutheran dissent, proves to be rather convoluted and the legal constraints imposed on inquisitors are obvious. Between 1517 (end of the Fifth Council of Lateran) and 1530 (calling of the Diet of Augsburg), the outlines of orthodoxy were the targets of sharp disagreement. Since it lacked effective canons, the Inquisition progressively shaped jurisprudence, enabling the Tribunal to comprehend the constituting elements of new heresies. The Holy Office monitored the reception of the religious controversy in Spain and assessed its consequences because of the lack of consensus regarding faith. Under preachers’ surveillance, it looked after doctrinal uniformity. By taking legal actions against the alumbrados, the Tribunal of the Inquisition intended to identify the distinctive features of the beginnings of heresy in Spain. Resumen: De las fuentes inquisitoriales del primer tercio del siglo XVI se desprende que resultó complejo el proceso de formalización teológica de las innovaciones doctrinales, en un contexto de rebelión luterana, y que fueron tangibles las restricciones jurídicas impuestas a los inquisidores. Entre 1517 –conclusión del concilio de Letrán V– y 1530 –Dieta de Augsburgo– los contornos de la ortodoxia fueron objeto de disenso. A falta de cánones aplicables, fue gradualmente como se elaboró la jurisprudencia con la que la Inquisición concibió los elementos constitutivos de las nuevas herejías. Sin consenso en materia de fe, el Santo Oficio vigiló la recepción en España de las controversias religiosas y evaluó las repercusiones de estas. A través del control de los predicadores, veló por la uniformidad doctrinal. En Toledo, incoando procesos contra los alumbrados, el tribunal se dedicó a determinar los caracteres de la génesis de la herejía en España.

O presente artigo trata das produções audiovisuais indígenas realizadas no Brasil, sobretudo aquelas vinculadas ao projeto Vídeo nas Aldeias, que desde o final dos anos 1980 vem promovendo oficinas de formação audiovisual em diversos territórios, incentivando o protagonismo de jovens indígenas na construção de suas imagens e narrativas. Chama a atenção a forma criativa como os jovens cineastas vem se apropriando das tecnologias de modo a produzir filmes que - para além propósito inicial de registrar e “preservar” a tradição – potencializam as possibilidades abertas pelo cinema, pondo-se a criar novas imagens, (re)inventar culturas, abalar imaginários, manter-se em movimento, (r)existir.

In 1860, renowned natural philosopher (now referred to as a ‘scientist’ or, more specifically in the case of Clerk Maxwell, a ‘physicist’) James Clerk Maxwell wrote ‘Valentine from a Telegraph Clerk ♂ [male] to a Telegraph Clerk ♀ [female]’ (Harman, 2001).[1] The short poem was a slightly tongue-in-cheek ode to the romance of the electric telegraph littered with references to manufacturers of batteries used in electrical telegraphy around this time such as John Daniell, Alfred Smee, and William Grove and electrical units (now SI derived units) such as Ohm, Weber, Farad and Volt (Mills, 1995). Although intended as slightly tongue-in-cheek, Maxwell’s short ode can be read as a state of play of electrical telegraphy as it stood in 1860 when Britain dominated the limited undersea electrical telegraph network as it existed at the time and continued to do so as the network expanded to a global interconnected electrical network by the end of the nineteenth century. Figure 1 Colour photograph of of a letter opener with a an 1894 calender and world map © Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library Science Museum object 2004-162, Letter opener with 1894 calendar and map, made for the Eastern Telegraph Company, 1893–1894. Object is currently on display in cable section of the Information Age gallery at the Science Museum, London DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15180/191201/012 full size print This sixteen-line poem was but one from a lifetime of poetry on the part of Clerk Maxwell – many exploring the wonders and romance of the new age of electrical telecommunications through which Clerk Maxwell lived and to which he actively contributed. Three years earlier in September 1857, Maxwell had also written a poem about the failed transatlantic telegraph cable, The song of the Atlantic Telegraph Co.[2] It would not be until 1866, nearly a decade after the failure of the initial 1857 transatlantic cable, that the first successful commercial transatlantic telegraph cable was laid and by the end of the nineteenth century a vast network of telegraph cables connected the furthest corners of the globe.[3] By this time, an extended telegraph network led to decreased costs and the telegraph became a more accessible and everyday form of communication. It was the romance, possibility, and personal use of the telegraph which caught the popular imagination, and these aspects began to be featured in popular literature in the late Victorian age – as they had been, in a more technical form, in Clerk Maxwell’s original 1860 poem above (Bruton, 2015). Below I have used artefacts from the Science Museum Group’s extensive holdings relating to the history of electrical telegraphy – many on display in the Information Age gallery at the Museum – to engage with both the technology and romance of the early years of electrical telegraphy.[4] In this article, I explore, situate and contextualise the technology – the material culture and early technical standards – as well as the human aspect – the romance and promise – of electrical telegraphy referred to in Clerk Maxwell’s poem above.

This article will consider the alignment of scientific and media practice at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Over several decades after 1817 certain instrument makers began to specialise in the domestic entertainment market, transferring skills from optical instrument manufacture to the design of fashionable novelty devices. The instrument trade was expanding into a new middle-class market to exploit an increasing popular trade in optical novelties, exemplified by the 1817 Kaleidoscope craze and new interest among the middle classes for microscopes, telescopes, and magic lanterns. This paper will address this shift towards more popular uses of scientific instruments and optical toys. In particular it will address the involvement of the Birmingham and London optician Philip Carpenter in three popular media formats of the 1810s and 1820s — the 1817 patent Kaleidoscope, 1821 Improved Phantasmagoria Lantern and 1827 Microcosm.

In May 2014, Latin America was the stage for the 13th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST 2014). It was the first time that this important international conference had reached the region since its launch in 1989, and it provides a good opportunity to discuss science communication in Latin America. The region is huge and extraordinarily diverse. As such, this article is only the starting point of a conversation on the subject: here the author presents an overview of the field in the region, highlighting some of the landmarks and discussing some challenges faced.

This essay is an account of the making of England and her Soldiers (1859) by Harriet Martineau and Florence Nightingale. The book is a literary account of the Crimean War, written by Martineau and based on Nightingale’s statistical studies of mortality during the conflict. Nightingale was passionate about statistics and healthcare. Whilst working as a nurse in the Crimea, she witnessed thousands of soldiers die of infectious diseases that might have been prevented with proper sanitation. After the war, she launched a campaign to convince the British government to make permanent reforms to military healthcare, compiling a dataset on mortality in the Crimea. She worked with the government’s Royal Commission investigating healthcare during the war, but also worked privately with Martineau to publicise her findings. Martineau and Nightingale grasped that the lay reader was more receptive to statistical information in a literary format than in dense statistical reports. As such, Nightingale’s data was interwoven with Martineau’s text. The pair illustrated their book with Nightingale’s ‘Rose Diagram’, a statistical graphic which simply illustrated the rate of mortality.

In 2010, Stephen Hawking commented that, “Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.” This is not a connection we might readily make in the modern world. Science is technology, laboratories, facts and figures. It is experiment, cold, hard evidence, and equally cold, hard environments. Yet, visitors to the Science Museum Group’s museums (and readers of the Science Museum Group Journal) know that this is not the case. Many have recently stood in awe at the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module that brought Tim Peake and colleagues back to Earth from the International Space Station, cowed by the fragility, complexity and humanity of such an object: its romance. Indeed, Hawking was talking about sending astronauts on dangerous missions when he spoke about romance. Although unmanned space flight was perfectly possible at the time, and eliminated the risk to human life, he believed that human participants were a fundamental part of the endeavour. The exploration, the adventure and the risk were essential. There is romance in the stars that inspires humans to advance, but a romance that technology devoid of human connection cannot convey. Yet, technology also has its own romance. There is a nostalgia, an emotional pull, to technologies that we have known and spent time with over the course of our lives. Technologies facilitate romance – the phone call, the dating app, the email, the letter, the train journey, the meal, the contraceptive pill. Technologies open a new world of experience to us, whether through travel, enhanced vision, means of recording, or display. But technologies can also be ‘romanticised’, over-simplified into a black box that masks realities of labour, discrimination, resource exploitation or environmental damage. This complex relationship, as well as the sheer variety of what we might consider technology, or romance, to be was investigated as part of a collaboration between the Science Museum Group, Central Saint Martins, and eeodo publishing in 2018, and is further developed in the papers that make up this mini collection.

This article builds on previous literature on museums and material culture by presenting an examination of the changing stories that a particular object — a rebuilt version of Douglas Hartree’s Differential Analyser — has been used to tell in the Science Museum, London. The analogy of ventriloquism is introduced to explore the ways that the object has been presented and interpreted in the Museum. It is used to illuminate how objects can carry the various meanings, interests, and prejudices (conscious and unconscious) of the human actors involved in their creation, collection and display. The article describes how the voices ‘ventriloquised’ through Hartree’s rebuilt ‘Trainbox’ have imbued this later version of the machine with the physical and instrumental functions of the original Analyser to make the object ‘fit’ with varying stories of computation, differential analysis, and models. The paper argues that the voices ventriloquised through the Trainbox have turned the object into the ‘material polyglot’ that sits in the Information Age gallery of the Science Museum today. The article concludes with the question of whether we can truly understand how objects change at the ‘hands-on’ level in museums, without including the simultaneous stories that an object shares with its audiences.

The curators of Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries reflect on their experiences of creating these significant new displays at the Science Museum in London. After summarising the historical medical displays at this museum, they outline the curatorial concepts behind their respective new galleries to explore the display strategies and processes behind the development of the new exhibits and highlight the significance of some of the objects that visitors can encounter today.

Long term and bulk patterns in both the accessioning and deaccessioning of the Science and Technology collections of National Museums Scotland were revealed within their digital database records. This makes use of bulk analysis of records to show historic patterns which can inform current activities. The current and recent selection of collections for display is analysed to reveal patterns in when these objects came into the collection. The research confirms the value of both past collecting and disposal in the development of strong collections of present and future utility. It shows that both recent displays and a major mid-twentieth century re-assessment of the collection were most likely to value material which had been recently collected. It also reveals a potential tendency for less significant material to be acquired by gift than by purchase.

This article examines the digital media revolution as a revolution reliant upon a sustained legacy of colonial violence in regions such as the Congo, the locale of this study. Contemporary production is foreshadowed by the industrial genocide of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries visited upon the Congo by Belgium. In an era defined by globally distributed trade networks, colonialism is equally distributed and mercurial – its complex supply chains obfuscating responsibility toward either the environment or its human inhabitants. The paper looks at the minerals required for latter day digital devices which have become the latest iteration of conflict in the region. Minerals are traced through a number of modern technologies including matches, atomic clocks and mobile devices, all of which evoke alchemical transformation and spectacle. We trace the legacy of colonial violence through smartphones, as the contemporary epitome of technical supremacy – highlighting their qualities of immediacy, mobility and making the remote proximate, especially by bringing remotely sourced geological elements into everyday use. Moving away from our own techno-romantic affiliation with such commodities, the article highlights the fact that focus on effect often further obfuscates the causal factors and consequences of resource extraction in commodity production. Even as we summon stories of global trade with our fingertips on mobile, networked devices, we are implicated in these cycles of violence.

How did industrial museums cross the Atlantic? When the first American museums of science and industry were created in the 1920s, they looked to Europe in order to import what was seen at that time as a burgeoning cultural institution. In this article, I look at this process of appropriation through an analysis of the changing perceptions of European industrial museums as expressed in the reports, surveys and books written by the curators, directors and trustees of the New York Museum of Science and Industry. I will pay particular attention to the 1927 film Museums of the New Age, documenting the main national industrial museums in Europe, and to a 1937 report on the techniques of display at the Palais de la Découverte. I will argue that their contrasting assessment of European industrial museums, which in only ten years ceased to be seen as cathedrals of a new age to become old-fashioned storehouses, is symptomatic of the significant transformation of museums of science and industry as cultural institutions during the 1930s in the United States.

A transition from the fossil-fuel driven to a sustainable energy system is an enormous global challenge: climate change and finite resources require countries all over the world to change their way of producing, transporting and using energy. The Energiewende (energy transition) will require major changes in the current energy supply system in Germany – but also worldwide. These changes will not only affect the technical sector but will also include ecological questions, social issues and political matters. Whether any transition is going to favour large scale solutions or decentralised technologies depends on local situations and global interconnections, and above all on a democratic process. Hence energy transition succeeds or fails with the acceptance and participation of society. To deal with this overwhelmingly complex topic and its multi-layered dependencies, the Deutsches Museum has designed an exhibition providing visitors with background knowledge about the necessities and challenges of energy transition, unpicking the links between the different technical, economic and social challenges. The exhibition accomplishes the task with an engaging and facilitating approach while taking into account the highly emotive aspects of energy transition as a societal issue. This paper presents the concept of the travelling exhibition energie.wenden, relating it to the Deutsches Museum´s tradition of exhibitions as well as to the challenge of how to deal with socio-scientific topics in scientific exhibitions.

This article looks at the relationship between two very popular middle-class activities in Late Victorian Britain, photographing and cycling, and explores the influence that the new technology of physical mobility had on visual experiences and related photographic practices. It focuses, in particular, on the significance that new practices of mobility and visuality had for a growing body of amateur photographers as they negotiated these experiences as a temporality of late nineteenth century modernity. Drawing on the everyday historical experiences of cycle and photography users as these were articulated at the time, the article offers new insight into the role that such body-machine interactions had on the development of what was, effectively, a modern, moving, gaze. My argument is that the sense of control over the new ways of moving and seeing enabled by cycling contributed to shape a new visual self and that, in turn, this fuelled the desire for a new visual language and means of representation that could challenge dominant photographic practices, in a manner that foresees the emergence of snapshot photography.

In autumn 2019 the Science Museum will open its new Medicine Gallery, which is an opportunity to redisplay and reinterpret items from the collection. One object selected as a centrepiece for the new space is the Giustiniani Medicine Chest, which dates from the mid-sixteenth century. This object came into the Science Museum Collection in 1946 having originally been bought in Italy in 1924 by an agent of Sir Henry Wellcome for his medical collection. This article assesses its provenance and history.

The Hugh Davies Collection (HDC) at the Science Museum in London comprises 42 items of electronic sound apparatus owned by English experimental musician Hugh Davies (1943–2005), including self-built electro-acoustic musical instruments and modified sound production and manipulation hardware. An early proponent of ‘live electronic music’ (performed live on stage rather than constructed on magnetic tape in a studio), Davies’s DIY approach shaped the development of experimental and improvised musics from the late 1960s onwards. However, his practice has not been widely reported in the literature, hence little information is readily available about the material artefacts that constituted and enabled it. This article provides the first account of the development of Davies’s practice in relation to the objects in the HDC: from the modified electronic sound apparatus used in his early live electronic compositions (among the first of their kind by a British composer); through the ‘instrumental turn’ represented by his first self-built instrument, Shozyg I (1968); to his mature practice, where self-built instruments like Springboard Mk. XI (1974) replaced electronic transformation as the primary means by which Davies explored new and novel sound-worlds. As well as advancing knowledge of Davies’s pioneering work in live electronics and instrument-building and enhancing understanding of the objects in the HDC, this article shows how object biographic and archival methodologies can be combined to provide insight into the ways in which objects (instruments, technologies) and practices shape each other over time.

In 2008 Rijksmuseum Boerhaave organised an exhibition on the occasion of the centennial of the liquefaction of helium by Kamerlingh Onnes in Leiden. Quest for Absolute Zero was the first major temporary exhibition aimed at new target groups. Therefore the focus was on the human scale and the colourful story behind the ‘man of Absolute Zero’. The fierce competition with James Dewar from the Royal Institution was also highlighted. The outcome of Quest for Absolute Zero was extremely positive for Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in terms of visitor numbers, media coverage, collaborations and side events. The project also proved to be a very useful lever for the renewal of the permanent exhibition, scheduled to open in December 2017.

Science centres and museums in Europe traditionally offer opportunities for public participation, such as dialogues, debates and workshops. In recent years, starting with the support of grants from the European Commission, the purpose of these initiatives is increasingly more connected with the policy making processes where science centres play a role as brokers between the public and other stakeholders. This article begins an investigation on how these two levels of participation – the participation of museums in policy, and the participation of visitors in museums – are related in seven European science centres and museums. The results suggest that science centres and museums are regarded by their visitors as potential platforms to facilitate public participation in policy, especially in countries where the general infrastructure for public participation in science is weak.

Contagious Cities was a cultural project that explored how urban environments in different parts of the world have coped with infectious diseases. Its theme of how populations prepare for and deal with epidemics is a core strategic concern for Wellcome – the large health and medicine foundation behind the project. Thoroughly interdisciplinary in their approach, the variety of exhibitions, events and other cultural activities the project supported placed a special emphasis on the illuminating potential for artists to investigate medical, scientific and social phenomena. The initiative also drew inspiration from Wellcome’s track record of curating interdisciplinary projects in its own museum in London, and approached its international ambitions (in Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and Berlin) through partnership and co-production. This article looks back at this unusual project, which ironically was concluded just before the world plunged into the current pandemic. The emphasis here, however, is somewhat less on the project’s themes – the fascinating and frightening implications of human co-existence with microbes in crowded contexts. Instead, we have focused on the complexities of working with multiple stakeholders in very different contexts, and we reflect on Wellcome’s role as an experienced, knowledgeable and creative, but also powerful and well-funded partner cum commissioner.

This essay explores the extent to which residues of the practices inherent in nineteenth-century science lecture-demonstrations from the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RI) are evident in contemporary forms of Science Museum Group (SMG) Explainer presentations. The discipline of Performance Studies offers a number of models to discuss such a consideration and this essay draws particularly on the connected, transgenerational theories of vertical transmission, embodied knowledge and intertheatricality. Specifically, the focus is on three notable scientists, selected here for their particular influence on the lecture-demonstration practices at the RI during the nineteenth century: Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday and John Tyndall. It suggests that aspects of their embodied performances in the lecture theatre have been transmitted through subsequent generations of RI practitioners. Extending this transmission, via specific events in 1954 that led to Science Museum Guide Lecturers observing RI practices, it suggests that these practices were then inherited and passed down through generations of lecturing and explaining staff at the museum.

Review

The Airy Transit Circle defined the position of the Greenwich Prime Meridian for decades. A set of models depicting the celebrated instrument and its parts was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle held in Paris in 1855. After the exhibition, the models were transferred for display at the South Kensington Museum, where it remained until it was deaccessioned in 1928. The article investigates why the set of models were seen as ‘mysterious’ in both Paris and London, despite being the instrument that marked Longitude Zero for the British Empire, and why such a prestigious instrument failed to capture the public imagination. This is shown by highlighting the contradictory interpretations of the models by the various networks of individuals and institutions within which they were discussed and transmitted.

Framing ‘science and society’ as a conflict has diverted us from more important problems. Our economic environment urges the commercialisation and social acceptance of new technologies, and science communicators and their publics contribute work to these ends. These activities neglect existing, uncontroversial technologies that, in a collaboration between responsible scientists and their publics, could be deployed to address global problems.

Book review: 'The Life and Legend of James Watt: Collaboration, Natural Philosophy, and the Improvement of the Steam Engine', by David Philip Miller, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019

This paper locates the development of a science and technology museum within the history of the predominantly object-based Vienna Museum, which was founded early in the twentieth century. It portrays interactive engagement with young people in terms of its continuity with the aim of popularising science, which had been a founding principle of the museum. At the same time, this paper examines the way in which the rise of interactivity represented a radical shift from an emphasis on technology itself towards a focus upon scientific principles, a phenomenon which in turn had an influence upon enquiry-based learning.