Forgetting Machines: Knowledge Management Evolution in Early Modern Europe. Alberto Cevolini. ed. Library of the Written Word 53; The Handpress World 40. Leiden: Brill, 2016. xii + 390 pp. $185.
expertise in ancient and contemporary materia medica is demonstrated through a comparative framework that highlights his textual and experiential mastery. Orta’s influence was far-reaching. Egmond explores the Dutch connection, arguing that Carolus Clusius, in effect, appropriated the text and reconstituted it as a work of European botanical science through years of editions, corrections, and additions to the original work. Through careful textual analysis Egmond reveals much about the emergence of botanical science in Europe and the uneven exchange of knowledge within empire. José Pardo Tomás explores Orta’s work and influence in Spain. He places the Colloquies within the growing interest of both Crown and intellectuals in stimulating trade and the exchange of knowledge from America. Spanish experts like Monardes and Fragoso sought plausible substitutions for Eastern materia medica and fueled commercial exploitation of the Americas. Timothy Walker concludes that the business of empire had long-term implications throughout the Portuguese sphere in the field of medicine. Orta helped create a culturally blended, hybridized medical culture that thrived for centuries. Orta’s experiential cross-cultural inquiries fully informed the Colloquies, and he embraced the values of experimentation and cultural adoption. Those practices, techniques, and values can be seen throughout the Lusophone world for more than two centuries. The volume is rich in content, yet contributesmost significantly to methodological and historiographic trends in the field. The contributions are of the highest caliber and it is a must read for anyone interested in the culture of empire.