Education
- BA (British Columbia)
- MA (Toronto)
- PhD (Columbia)
Biography
I work on history and philosophy of Western science and technology in the early-modern period (1500-1700). I try to show how modern intellectual norms--ways of thinking, background assumptions--emerged in this period, from surprising sources. *Discovery* and *information* are two of the main concepts I have addressed in this way.
In 2011 I co-founded, with Steven Matthews (U. of Minnesota), the international conference series *Scientiae: Disciplines of Knowing in the Early Modern World*. I organized the inaugural conference, held at SFU Vancouver, in the spring of 2012, co-hosting it with Matthews. (See *Intellectual History Review* 24.1 [2014]: 1-3.) I also organized the 2019 Scientiae, held at Queen's University, Belfast.
BOOKS
Timothie Bright and the Origins of Early Modern Shorthand: Melancholy, Medicines, and the Information of the Soul. Routledge, 2024.
The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England: John Wilkins and the Universal Character. Palgrave, 2017.
The Invention of Discovery, 1500-1700. Ashgate, 2011. (Ed. and intro.)
Milton's Secrecy and Philosophical Hermeneutics. Ashgate, 2008.
Courses
This instructor is currently not teaching any courses.