I am Dr. Caterina Agostini, a historian of science and digital humanist at Indiana University Bloomington. My work is based at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, where I am preparing a critical edition of the unpublished alchemical manuscripts written by Sir Isaac Newton. In the Chymistry of Isaac Newton project, I have been documenting Newton's interests in alchemy. The work unveiling Newton's alchemy at IU is made possible thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Newton wrote extensive notes totaling approximately one million words documenting his search for the philosopher's stone. His manuscripts are housed in collections around the world, including the Huntington Library, the University of Cambridge, and the National Library of Israel. There are also Newton's manuscripts in private collections or available for purchase at auction houses. Fun fact: I have discovered and corrected Newton’s Latin mistakes in several passages of his alchemical manuscripts, previously unnoticed.
I have been writing a book on Galileo Galilei's scientific interest for medicine. This research builds upon a topic from my doctoral studies. In my Ph.D. dissertation, Scientific Thinking and Narrative Discourse in Early Modern Italy, I have explored scientific narratives and cultural productions in the context of the Scientific Revolution. I earned my Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where I was awarded the 2021 Rutgers School of Graduate Studies Award for Excellence in Outreach and Service.
The history of science, medical humanities, and scientific illustrations have been among my primary research interests, inspired by my fascination with these subjects since childhood. I developed a particular interest in the places and culture associated with Galileo's work in the Republic of Venice from 1592 to 1610, a period he described as his "eighteen happiest years" (Galileo's letter to Fortunio Liceti, a physician and philosopher, 3 June 1640; Opere di Galileo XVIII, 207–09). Galileo, to me, is a brilliant mind, a great scientist, and an author whose works I’d search and read, admiring his prose and poems in my local and international libraries. As a reader who is historically and digitally curious, I have become interested in the humanities and cultural heritage, as well as in computers and communication. That's how I invested in learning more about digital humanities tools: visualization techniques, mapping, and text analysis.
As a digital humanist, I have developed project management skills through my own projects. I've also discussed findings with people who share my views, and I learned to interact with those who do not. I continue to learn every day and share my enthusiasm with team members from diverse backgrounds. I often learn something new when I challenge my beliefs and go further, for example collaborating on team projects. By doing digital work and consulting on projects, user interfaces, and image collections, I see myself as an active member of an international Republic of Letters, or res publica litterarum, in the Latin phrase that Renaissance scholars used. Therefore, it is my call to contribute to an intangible community of scholarship and practice where I advance research, while developing outreach programs and encouraging diverse audiences to join cultural, digital debates. To bring my contribution in the scholarly community, and my experience as a digital specialist and a polyglot, I am Co-Chair of the IIIF Outreach Community Group, where I work with colleagues at Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums worldwide to expand the outreach of the International Image Interoperability Framework to underrepresented communities and languages, starting with Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. I also serve in the Executive Board of Digital Medievalist. I have published scholarly research on Galileo and early modern science, Italian cultural studies, and computational methods. I am a Phi Sigma Iota member supporting the humanities across classical and modern languages and literatures.
If you want to chat about material book history, Renaissance texts, and the history of science through humanistic and computational methods, I would be happy to get in touch with you.
Caterina Agostini
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cagostin [at] iu [dot] edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1695-0433
Google Scholar
X/Twitter @CateAgostini
Humanities Commons @agostini
