As described in Episode 33C, in a fractal spinoff starting with this episode, I shall be covering the achievements of the greatest minds of a forgotten golden age of innovation and intellectual achievement, and making a case for why they matter to us in the modern day, how they shaped the course of innovation and intellectual progress since their time to our own.

Back in Episode 23 I traced the emergence of systematic thought and intellectual inquiry, at least in Europe, looking at the Greeks of Classical Antiquity. Then in Episode 30B I traced how the Romans, or specifically one Marcus Tullius Cicero carried forward this Greek baton alongside adding his embellishments to it.

Also just to complete the initial context, I’ll recap the core development, that after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, despite efforts of people like Cicero, much of the Ancient Greek knowledge was lost to the West, and that it was instead picked up by the Islamic Scholars from about 750 onwards as detailed in Episode 33.

I’ll now be getting to the very heart of some of the core intellectual innovations that come next, building on top of the Ancient Greek legacy: in other words, the very question of thought - of knowledge, reality, understanding. (The underlying concepts can be represented in some rather daunting-looking technical terms, close your eyes for a moment: ontology, epistemology, metaphysics, and yes philosophy!)

But trust me, as has been the case and commitment in my previous articles, there’s absolutely no specialist knowledge or expertise required to follow along. And as before, you’ll find the specifically technical detail in the copious footnotes. Follow me!

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Adamson, Peter. (2023). Ibn Sina (Avicenna): A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192846983.

* McGinnis, Jon. (2010). Avicenna (Great Medieval Thinkers). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195331486.

* Wisnovsky, Robert. (2003). Avicenna’s Metaphysics in Context. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801441783.

* Gutas, Dimitri. (2014). Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition: Introduction to Reading Avicenna’s Philosophical Works. Brill. ISBN 978-9004262072.

* Adamson, Peter. (2013). Interpreting Avicenna: Critical Essays. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521190732.

* Arya, Michael P.. (2021). The Essential Avicenna (Ibn Sina). Xulon Press. ISBN 978-1662820960.

* Al-Khalili, Jim. (2010). The House of Wisdom. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1101476239.

* Starr, Frederick S. (2013). Lost Enlightenment - Central Asia’s Golden Age. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15773-3.

* Lombard, Maurice. (2009). The Golden Age of Islam. Markus Wiener Publishers. ISBN 978-1558763227.

* Turner, Howard R.. (1997). Science in Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0292781498.

* Ozment, Steven. (2020). The Age of Reform, 1250-1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. 40th Anniversary. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300203554.

* Mortimer, Ian. (2022). Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter. Vintage.

In Episodes 43 to 45 we saw some of the foundational developments that characterize the Renaissance, or what we specifically understand to be the Italian renaissance. Now, let’s cast the net wider, and to see similar revolutionary developments emerge elsewhere.

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Newitt, Malyn. (2023). Navigations: The Portuguese Discoveries and the Renaissance. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1789147025.

* Diffie, Bailey W.; Winius. (1977). Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415-1580. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-19-690419-6.

* Cortesão, Armando. (1969). History of Portuguese Cartography. Junta de Investigações do Ultramar-Lisboa.

* Elbl, Martin M.. (1985). The Portuguese Caravel and European Shipbuilding: Phases of Development and Diversity.

* Ariganello, Lisa. Henry the Navigator: Prince of Portuguese Exploration. Crabtree Publishing. ISBN 978-0778724339.

Ever so often arrives a titan of skill supreme and sublime

Whose life and works will with achievement itself rhyme

Such as may have set the stage, mayhaps even defined an age

But our man, if you will, was not of an age, but for all time

We’ve already seen in this mini-series, a trilogy tracing the development of the English language, such as in Episode 35A becoming slimmer, stronger and sleeker having shed the unnecessary baggage of word endings, then in Episode 35B where Chaucer gave respectability to that language, and finally in Episode 35C where despite the hit-and-miss development of spelling, English found a foothold and some unexpected advantages.

We will now meet English’s greatest and smoothest operator, its most effective and eloquent elevator, its most remarkable and rakish reinventor. Yes, we will.

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, most voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Ackroyd, Peter. (2005). Shakespeare: The Biography. Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385511391.

* Bate, Jonathan. (2009). Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare. Random House. ISBN 978-1400062065.

* Greenblatt, Stephen. (2004). Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393050572.

* Shapiro, James. (2005). A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. Harper Collins.

* Shapiro, James. (2015). The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606. Simon & Schuster.

* Bloom, Harold. (1998). Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. Riverhead Books.

* Bryson, Bill. (2007). Shakespeare: The World as Stage. HarperCollins.

* Bevington, David. (2010). Shakespeare and Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199586479.

* Garber, Marjorie. (2004). Shakespeare After All. Pantheon.

* Crystal, David; Crystal. (2002). Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion. Penguin.

* Crystal, David. (2012). Spell it out: the singular story of English spelling. Profile Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84668-567-5.

* Crystal, David. (2019). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 3rd. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108437738.

Today I’ll discuss, even explain, a very weird phenomenon that we are confronted with every single day. If not justify it, I hope to partly answer a burning question underlying it.

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Crystal, David. (2012). Spell it out: the singular story of English spelling. Profile Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84668-567-5.

* Hellinga, Lotte. (2010). William Caxton and Early Printing in England. British Library. ISBN 978-0712350884.

* Crystal, David. (2019). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 3rd. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108437738.

* Crystal, David. (2003). English as a Global Language. 2nd. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521530323.

* Crystal, David; Crystal. (2014). You Say Potato: A Book About Accents. Macmillan.

* Lerer, Seth. (2015). Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231174473.

* Wolfe, Patricia M.. (1972). Linguistic Change and the Great Vowel Shift in English. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520018358.

* Stenbrenden, Gjertrud Flermoen. (2016). Long-Vowel Shifts in English, c.1050–1700: Evidence from Spelling. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107055759.

* Tutschka, Victoria. (2009). Great Vowel Shift: From Middle to Standard English. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3640489374.

* Lounsbury, Thomas R.. (1909). English Spelling and Spelling Reform. Harper & Brothers. ISBN 978-1164071594.

* Okrent, Arika. (2021). Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don’t Rhyme—And Other Oddities of the English Language. Oxford University Press.

So last time we discussed what might appear to be largely a theoretical point - linear perspective, promising to give you a sort of ‘live demo’. So here we are, demo time! I also withheld the name of the guy who essentially ‘invented’ linear perspective. So this article is about him as well.

Finally, as part of this, I will also extend the promise or case I made in the earlier Episode 24. Let’s take the whole thing in perspective!

Read full article here.

Article written by Ash Stuart

Voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* King, Ross. (2000). Brunelleschi’s Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-1-62040-193-4.

* Prager, Frank D.; Scaglia. (1970). Brunelleschi: Studies of His Technology and Inventions. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-16031-5.

* Saalman, Howard. (1993). Filippo Brunelleschi: The Buildings. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01067-0.

* Battisti, Eugenio. (2002). Filippo Brunelleschi. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-1-904313-12-0.

* Bussagli, Marco; Gregori. (2021). Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence. Scripta Maneant. ISBN 978-8-89584-797-9.

* Galluzzi, Paolo. (2020). The Italian Renaissance of Machines. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674984394.

* Brotton, Jerry. (2006). The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192801630.

Back in Episode 24, I made a what-might-seem-bold claim about a certain method being the best tool we have to understand reality, with Episode 32 being one case in point. Today, I’ll explore another one - an altogether more visual one.

But first...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Ruggiero, Guido. (2015). The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107032545.

* Galluzzi, Paolo. (2020). The Italian Renaissance of Machines. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674984394.

* Brotton, Jerry. (2006). The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192801630.

* Brotton, Jerry. (2002). The Renaissance Bazaar. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0192802651.

* Jardine, Lisa; Brotton. (2000). Global Interests: Renaissance Art between East and West. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1861891662.

What is it that makes genius? How much of it is in the persona of an individual and how much of it comes from, what I’ve called, institutional technologies? How does it organize and amplify knowledge and skill? How does that relate to innovation? Let’s start unpacking this today.

Read full article here.

Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

*

We tend to use the words ‘invention’ and ‘innovation’ somewhat interchangeably, and we probably don’t pause to think about the difference between the two. Not only are they different, but their difference has a fundamental bearing on our journey here. Perhaps no other story demonstrates this better than that we are going to explore today. Let’s get to it.

But first let’s see what...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Eisenstein, Elizabeth L.. (1979). The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early-Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521299558.

* Man, John. (2002). The Gutenberg Revolution: How Printing Changed the Course of History. Bantam. ISBN 978-0553819663.

* Abel, Richard. (2011). The Gutenberg Revolution: A History of Print Culture. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1412849524.

* Kapr, Albert. (1996). Johannes Gutenberg: The Man and His Invention. Scolar Press. ISBN 978-1859280515.

* Scholderer, Victor. (1963). Johann Gutenberg: The Inventor of Printing. Trustees of the British Museum.

* Rees, Fran. (2006). Johannes Gutenberg: Inventor of the Printing Press. Compass Point Books. ISBN 978-0756520748.

* Koscielniak, Bruce. (2003). Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0618263516.

* Childress, Diana. (2008). Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-0822575207.

* Rudolph, Richard C. (1954). A Chinese Printing Manual, 1776. Ward Ritchie Press.

* McGovern, Melvin P. (1966). Specimen Pages of Korean Movable Types. Dawson’s Book Shop.

* Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. (2005). The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. 2nd. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521845434.

* Mortimer, Ian. (2022). Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter. Vintage.

* Wood, Michael. The Story of China. Simon & Schuster.

* The Machine that Made Us - Documentary on the Gutenberg Printing Press with Stephen Fry

On the grand march of life, there are but forces few, Like green shoots in the soil, like early morning dew. After disease and despair, after death and destruction, Nothing comes close to reviving, as the new, as the new.

Welcome to the New Era! Happy New Era!

That’s right, that’s not an error, not a typo. Even as this piece is scheduled to go out as my first release in the new year, it also marks the beginning of a new era!

A new era, in our story of innovation - after all, the new is the very heart of innovation; in our study of achievement - after all, what can be accomplished without trying out something new; in our pursuit of progress - after all, where’s progress if there isn’t something new?

The last episode was...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Turner, Marion. (2019). Chaucer A European Life. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-16009-2.

* Kirkham, Victoria & Maggi, Armando. (2009). Petrarch. A Critical Guide to the Complete Works. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226437415.

* Mortimer, Ian. (2022). Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter. Vintage.

* Belich, James. (2022). The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691215662.

* Herlihy, David. (1997). The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674076136.

* MacCulloch, Diarmaid. (2005). The Reformation: A History. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0143035381.

* Lindberg, Carter. (2020). The European Reformations. 3rd. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1119640813.

* McGrath, Alister E.. (2021). Reformation Thought: An Introduction. 5th. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1119756583.

* Ozment, Steven. (2020). The Age of Reform, 1250-1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. 40th Anniversary. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300203554.

* Scheidel, Walter. (2021). Escape from Rome. The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691216737.

Alright, batten down the hatches, I’m not going to lie, this one is going to be grim. This story is about the greatest natural disaster ever known to strike humanity. It’s not pleasant, so feel free to stop reading and close this right away. That said, this is an essential part of the story of human progress and thus it cannot be left untold. For all the untold misery it did unfold, it’s also a story of how things get better after the worst.

This is the...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images, voice narration and some footnotes generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Belich, James. (2022). The World the Plague Made: The Black Death and the Rise of Europe. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691215662.

* Bailey, Mark. (2021). After the Black Death: Economy, Society, and the Law in Fourteenth-Century England. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198857884.

* Benedictow, Ole Jørgen. (2004). The Black Death, 1346-1353: The Complete History. Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843830191.

* Kelly, John. (2005). The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060006938.

* Hatcher, John. (2008). The Black Death: A Personal History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 9780306815713.

* Lagerås, Per. (2016). Environment, Society and the Black Death. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781785700545.

* Herlihy, David. (1997). The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674076136.