The “Glimpse Series” offers a closer view of the AAR community’s current Rome Prize winners by delving further into their studios or studies, their daily routines or work in progress. The scholarly and artistic work being pursued continues to be as varied as the fellowship recipients themselves. The following “Glimpse” focuses on Craig Martin, Associate Professor in History at Oakland University and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellow in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies and represents the first feature in our 2011-2012 series.
Describe a particularly inspiring moment or location you've experienced in Rome thus far.
Working in the Biblioteca Nazionale is great for my work on how Aristotle was perceived by religious thinkers during the Italian Renaissance. They have an incredible collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century books. Typically I look at two or three per day. Lately I've been looking at books that discuss the immortality and mortality of the soul. Many of the books were once owned by early modern religious organizations -- and you’re allowed to handle them with bare hands.
What aspect of your project are you most looking forward to?
I’m most looking forward to having the freedom to concentrate on writing my book, that is tentatively called Impious Aristotle: Religion, Humanism, and Philosophy in the Scientific Revolution.
How do you anticipate your Rome Prize Fellowship will influence future work?
My time in Rome will allow me go beyond my previous work. My first book called Renaissance Meteorology: Pomponazzi to Descartes (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011) just came out in September. I wanted to explain the specific topic of meteorology within the history of science because it hadn’t been written about in depth before, yet was important not just to natural philosophers but to the entire population. For example, meteorology during the Renaissance was a broad field and also included explanations of earthquakes. The theory was that winds rushed under the earth and then exploded when they became heated. Later thinkers altered this theory so that the winds contained sulfur or nitre and exploded in the same way gunpowder did.
Being in Rome for the year will allow me to pursue additional uncharted territory by writing a book that emphasizes new aspects of the history of science, especially the relation between Renaissance humanism and the scientific revolution. The book looks at how philosophers who promoted the new sciences wanted to change the image of Aristotle, from being the intellectual founder of much of theology to that of an irreligious pagan -- including Petrarch and Dante in the fourteenth century, and Thomas Hobbes and Francis Bacon in the seventeenth. By changing attitudes about Aristotle's religion they could more easily promote their alternatives to Aristotelian philosophy in an extremely religious culture. In order to change the image of Aristotle they used many of the historical methods developed by Renaissance humanists and borrowed some of their invectives too.
How have you managed the balance between your work and engagement with Rome and Italy?
I’ve made friends with Romans by playing tennis with them and often see friends when I’m not out doing research.
What's surprised you most about living in Rome?
Riding a bicycle in the city isn’t as bad as I thought it would be! I ride through the historic center to the Biblioteca Nazionale. Returning up the Gianicolo is admittedly a bit tiring. I also ride to the tennis courts out on the Via Casaletto.
What's your favorite dish in the Rome Sustainable Food Project kitchen?
The way they prepare the cauliflower -- it’s always so tender. Sometimes it has nuts, which makes it even better.