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"The interplay between nature, science, and art in antiquity and the early modern period differs significantly from late modern expectations. In this book scholars from ancient studies as well as early modern studies, art history, literary criticism, philosophy, and the history of science, explore that interplay in several influential ancient texts and their reception in the Renaissance. The Natural History of Pliny, De Architectura of Vitruvius, De Rerum Natura of Lucretius, Automata of Hero, and Timaios of Plato among other texts reveal how fields of inquiry now considered distinct were originally understood as closely interrelated. In our choice of texts, we focus on materialistic theories of nature, knowledge, and art that remain underappreciated in ancient and early modern studies even today"--

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Table of Contents; Body; 1. Literature and blogs -- two sides of the same coin; Introduction; Theoretical foundations; Expanding the literary backdrop; The cross-over to blogs; Disposition of study; 2. Stop worrying and start loving shit; Introducing Wael Abbas; Issues that don't get covered in the traditional media; Inspiring activism; Spectacular video clips; The older literary story; The spirit of a rebel revealed; Concluding discussion on al-Waʿy al-Miṣrī; 3. Blogging for the Brethren; Introducing Ana Ikhwan; Facts & bureaucratic details

Science is facing a fundamental turning point of its history. Never as in this historical moment it appears giant and powerful, but at the same time it shows high fragility: the concentration of information control power in the hands of few commercial groups, the iniquity of a system that benefits developed countries, the restriction of academic autonomy by political and economic power, the precariousness of working conditions of young researchers, the increase in the number of cases of scientific fraud and misconduct, the questioning of its authority by a portion of the public. Can openness be understood as a system capable of strengthening science and treating the diseases that afflict it?