{"product_id":"instrumentality-j-allan-mitchell-9781517917388","title":"Instrumentality: On Technical Objects and Orientations in the Later Middle Ages","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom medieval to modern, exploring instrumental attitudes toward physical gadgets, diagrams, concepts, methods, and disciplines\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Opening up the instrumental condition of the human for critical reflection and renewal, \u003ci\u003eInstrumentality\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates key moments in the intellectual history of the European Middle Ages. J. Allan Mitchell reveals how, in the predigital past, we can recognize many of the operative technics, analytics, and metaphorics that continue to shape human sense and cognition today. \u003cp\u003e Exploring the diverse modalities of medieval instruments, Mitchell's case studies encompass techniques as seemingly distinct as time-keeping mechanisms, mathematical diagrams, logical syllogisms, and the literary devices of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower. A cultural and intellectual history, Mitchell's work leads readers from three-dimensional objects (physical mechanisms) to two-dimensional inscriptions (maps and diagrams) and onward to overarching disciplinary norms in the early liberal and mechanical arts. Prying loose the subtle, adaptable, and generative concept of technical objects from limiting contemporary frameworks, he shows how these instruments are indispensable to the past--and the future--of the arts and culture at large. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e J. Allan Mitchell\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1517917387\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781517917388\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Minnesota Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/22\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 160\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.62lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.80d","brand":"J. Allan Mitchell","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46685930979583,"sku":"9781517917388","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a07d9aaa-f67d-4f68-9a6c-17cc3dea0c07.jpg?v=1741727199","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/instrumentality-j-allan-mitchell-9781517917388","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}