Undergraduate Course: Picturing Science in Premodern Manuscripts and Printed Books (HIAR10186)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Science is a sensual enterprise. Phenomena are observed and imaged, often in books. This course examines the ways that this was done in premodern Europe between c. 500 and 1550 through a series of case studies. Although manuscripts in Latin and European vernaculars are the focus, they will be put into dialogue with books from other periods and cultures. The course takes advantage of the University's rich holdings for hands-on object study sessions. Students will learn the basics of paleography and codicology via skill-building exercises. |
| Course description |
Medieval science has been characterised as 'livresque', that is, set down and largely conducted in books. While challenging this claim, this course takes advantage of the wealth of medieval and early renaissance manuscripts and printed books that give it rise. Science, derived from the Latin 'scientia', carried different connotations in the middle ages than it does today. It meant simply 'knowledge' and often referred to expertise or skill in any domain. In certain contexts, however, it denoted absolute truth - divine in origin; its exclusive sources the Bible and the mathematical disciplines of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.
This course embraces medieval science in all its varied forms. Students will look at premodern books devoted to everything from multiplication to medicine, time reckoning to land surveying, optics to elephants. Such tracts are often filled with pictures. Students will consider the diverse conceptual roles these pictures played. They will explore questions of content, form, style, precision and efficacy in light of production, transmission and use. Images were understood to be essential to thought; pictures, mental tools. Theories of cognition will be studied with an emphasis on the interplay of observation, comprehension and imagination.
The course is taught through a series of 10 weekly 2-hour seminars. Several seminars convene in the Centre for Research Collections, where students will gain experience handling and researching manuscripts and early printed books. There may also be opportunities for hands-on study in other, nearby collections. In addition to readings, students undertake various formative skill-building exercises at home and in class. These practical exercises underpin seminar discussion and collaborative study and feed into summative assessments.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. As numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
40 %,
Coursework
60 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 summative assessment components.
1) Portfolio, c. 2000 words, 60%, weeks 8-11
2) Exam, 2 hours, 40%, exam diet
Further Information
The Portfolio includes three revised exercises from those done over the course of the semester and EITHER a c. 1,000-word essay responding to a question OR an image and c. 500-word explanation of the image. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Students will receive verbal feedback on exercises from the Course Organiser and their peers throughout the course. There will be a focussed 1:1 feedback opportunity on the Portfolio well in advance of submission.
Summative Feedback
The Course Organiser will provide written feedback on summative assessments. There is the opportunity of a 1:1 meeting with the Course Organiser to discuss feedback on request. Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Handle archival materials safely, in line with standard protocols and with an awareness of the physical qualities of historic materials.
- Efficiently navigate online archives and correctly decipher technical descriptions of manuscripts.
- Describe and analyse premodern scientific books - their structure, material, text and pictures - using period and present-day terminology accurately and with confidence.
- Demonstrate a detailed understanding of medieval science in Europe and its verbal and visual manifestations.
- Critically assess the way that medieval science has been treated by scholars over time and in different disciplines, especially the history of science and art history.
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Reading List
Bredekamp, Horst, Vera Dunkel and Birgit Schneider, eds. The Technical Image: A History of Styles in Scientific Imagery. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.
Brown, Michelle P. with Elizabeth Teviotdale and Nancy Turner. Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms. Rev. ed. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018.
De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminators. London: British Museum Press, 1992.
Hamburger, Jeffrey, David Roxburgh, and Linda Safran, eds. Diagram Paradigm: Byzantium, the Islamic World, and the Latin West. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Publications, 2022.
Murdoch, John Emery. Album of Science: Antiquity and the Middle Ages. New York: Scribner, 1984.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course will help students to develop their abilities as critical and reflective thinkers, by asking them to analyse and evaluate arguments put forward in course materials, by the CO and by their peers.
The course will help students develop their abilities as creative problem-solvers and researchers, by asking them to independently identify an object for research and undertake an in-depth study of it, applying specific methods and ideas encountered in course materials and activities.
The course will help students develop their skills as effective communicators, through writing exercises of various kinds: some technical, others less formal and intended for non-specialist audiences. The course will also help students improve their interpersonal skills through seminar discussion, collaborative work and peer review. |
| Keywords | Manuscripts,Printed Books,Medieval,Renaissance,Science,Text and Image,Diagrams,Style |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Megan McNamee
Tel:
Email: megan.mcnamee@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mx Hannah Pennie Morrison
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: Hannah.PM@ed.ac.uk |
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