The articles included in the present issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, titled Animals (Un)tamed. Human–Animal Encounters in Science, Art, and Literature, are the result of the... Show moreThe articles included in the present issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, titled Animals (Un)tamed. Human–Animal Encounters in Science, Art, and Literature, are the result of the diverse and interdisciplinary research on our multifaceted relationship with animals which is currently taking place. The fifth biennial LUCAS Graduate Conference, held in April 2019, shared this same theme. This conference on “Animals: Theory, Practice, and Representation” gave PhD and Master students the opportunity to present, exchange and discuss their research relating to animal studies with participants from diverse backgrounds. The resulting exchange focused on a re-examination of the relationship between humans and animals, and the definitions involved. Many of the articles in the present issue are result of the lively debate which took place during this conference. The contributions to this issue of JLGC reflect the wide variety of approaches in animal studies. Show less
A special interest in optics among various seventeenth-century painters living in the Dutch city of Delft, has intrigued (art-)historians for a long time. Equally, the impressive career of the... Show moreA special interest in optics among various seventeenth-century painters living in the Dutch city of Delft, has intrigued (art-)historians for a long time. Equally, the impressive career of the Delft microscopist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek has been studied by many historians of science. However, it has never been investigated who, at that time, had access to the mathematical and optical knowledge necessary for the impressive achievements of these Delft practitioners. We have tried to gain insight in Delft as a ‘node’ of optical knowledge by following the careers of three minor local figures in early-seventeenth-century Delft. We argue that through their work, products, discussions in the vernacular and exchange of skills, rather than via learned publications, these practitioners constituted a foundation on which the later scientific and artistic achievements of other Delft citizens were built. Our Delft case demonstrates that these practitioners were not simple and isolated craftsmen; rather they were crucial components in a network of scholars, savants, painters and rich virtuosi. Decades before Vermeer made his masterworks, or Van Leeuwenhoek started his famous microscopic investigations the intellectual atmosphere and artisanal knowledge in this city centred on optical topics. Show less
