Vehicles of Knowledge : the Circulation of Thermometers between Florence, Warsaw and Paris (1654-1660)

This paper examines the paper production – letters, notes, tables, and images – that preceded, accompanied, and followed the circulation of the Florentine thermometers between 1654 and 1660 in various European locations, with a particular focus on Paris and the Polish court. By drawing upon a substantial corpus of unpublished documents, in this article I aim to demonstrate three key points. First, I show the extent to which the thermometer stimulated interest outside Tuscany. Second, I illustrate how the visual, tactile, and practical knowledge conveyed by the instruments contributed to the emergence of new research topics and forms of communication. Third, I demonstrate the need to consider the circulation of physical objects as a key factor in the construction of a shared European scientific context in the second half of the seventeenth century.