As Western populations grow increasingly older, ‘healthy ageing’ is presented as one of today’s greatest medical and societal challenges. However, contrary to what many policy makers want us to believe, the aspiration to live long, healthy and happy lives is not a problem specific to our times. On the contrary, successful ageing has a long…

On Tuesday 28 February, the ARTECHNE team will be at the Conservation and Restoration Department of the University of Amsterdam to present their research. Speakers are Thijs Hagendijk, Tonny Beentjes, Marieke Hendriksen, Jenny Boulboullé and Mariana Pinto: each will give a short introduction into his/her subproject. Social drink afterwards.

On 21 February the next Descartes Centre History of Science colloquium will be held, with lectures by Thijs Hagendijk and Iulian Toader (Senior Fellow at the Descartes Centre and Senior Researcher in the Philosophy Department at the University of Salzburg as of Summer 2017). Artisanal Guidebooks The lecture by Thijs Hagendijk is titled ‘Learning a craft from…

On April 10, Marieke Hendriksen will give a Brown Bag Lecture on ‘Boerhaave’s Mineral Chemistry and Its Influence on 18th-Century Pharmacy in the Netherlands’. In the 18th century the use of mineral or fossil substances—including metals, earths, salts, and (gem)stones—was common in European medicine and pharmacy. However, this period also saw profound changes in ideas about the…

On March 30, Marieke Hendriksen will give a presentation titled ‘Mapping technique in the arts and sciences: the ARTECHNE database project’ in the New Technologies and Renaissance Studies sessions at the 2017 Renaissance Society of America conference. Abstract The ARTECHNE project at Utrecht University studies how technique was transmitted among artists, artisans, and scholars between…