Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
Ottocento immersivo : Giochi da tavolo e sapere scientifico nella Londra georgiana / I. Ampollini (STUDI E RICERCHE). - In: Ad limina : Frontiere e contaminazioni transdisciplinari nella storia delle scienze / [a cura di] C. Addabbo, E. Canadelli, L. Ingaliso, D. Musumeci, L. Tonetti, V. Vignieri, M. Vilardo. - [s.l] : Editrice Bibliografica, 2023 Jul. - ISBN 9788893575904. - pp. 25-36 (( convegno Convegno nazionale della Società Italiana di Storia della Scienza tenutosi a Catania nel 2022.
Abstract:
Between the end of the Eighteenth century and the first half of the Nineteenth century, John and
Edward Wallis were among the most appreciated games’ publishers in London. Their catalogue
included card and board-games intended to teach young boys and girls history, geography and
sciences. Despite being to date understudied, science-themed games are particularly interesting:
they are in fact a valuable source to investigate the circulation of scientific knowledge, the ways
in which it was translated into images and how it was enjoyed by players. Some of these games,
moreover, show some characteristics which are worth to be highlighted: reflecting the general
idea of a hands-on approach, with familiar objects and manipulative experience having a central
role in children education, players were often asked to make small experiments or to visit places,
such as the Zoological Gardens. Such physical involvement led to continuous trespassing beyond
the board, so that these games ended up in absorbing the domestic space, when not the city of
London. This element, that can be summarized as “immersivity”, has very much in common
with Georgian science popularization and education: just think about cycloramas, panoramas,
magic lanterns and vertical orreries. Similar apparatus allowed – not only, but also – laymen to be
surrounded by exotic landscapes, celestial bodies’ movements, and optical wonders, so that the
rational comprehension of natural phenomena passed through a sensorial, pervasive experience.
Wallis’ games made no exception, as it will be demonstrated.
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Elenco autori:
I. Ampollini
Link alla scheda completa:
Link al Full Text:
Titolo del libro:
Ad limina : Frontiere e contaminazioni transdisciplinari nella storia delle scienze