The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England John Wilkins and t
This book examines the seventeenth-century project for a "real" or "universal" character: a scientific and objective code. Focusing on the Essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language (1668) of the polymath John Wilkins, Fleming provides a
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james dougal fleming
The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England
James Dougal Fleming
The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England John Wilkins and the Universal Character
James Dougal Fleming Simon Fraser University Burnaby, Canada
ISBN 978-3-319-40300-7 ISBN 978-3-319-40301-4 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40301-4
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956905 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Ivy Close Images / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
For my family, always
TEXTUAL NOTE
This book is largely about John Wilkins’s An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language, published in London by the Royal Society in 1668. Beginning in my fourth chapter, I’m going to be examining Wilkins’s book in considerable detail. The nature of the book is that you really need to see it to grasp it, especially for the layout of Wilkins’s Philosophical Tables, and the design of his real character. While I have included images of the pages that are most crucial for my discussion (see Figs. 1–4), including them all is impracticable. But lo: the infosphere comes to our aid. Wilkins’s Essay is on Google Books. I strongly urge the reader who finds my paraphrases and descriptions of it confusing to open up an e-copy and follow along.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
An awkward question is: How long have you been working on this book? The brief answer—a couple of years—is almost dishonest, but a full answer would be embarrassing. I started to think almost a decade ago that the concept of information was key to the epistemic differences between the early-modern period and our own. But it has taken the informational technologies that have emerged and matured during that decade—notably the internet and its ass
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