The Art of Memory

[John Crowley's LJ (RSS Feed)]

Many of you probably caught this wonderful article in the NY Times about the Mundaneum in Belgium. The article naturally describes it as a precursor of the Web, but it's also a direct descendant of the Memory Theaters of the Renaissance, at least one of which was actually constructed in much the same way as this card-file system was supposed to be, with large categories governing sub- and sub-sub-categories. Like the Renaissance systems, this one depended on cutting-edge science; difference being that Renaissance science was likely to be astrological and elemental and dependent on the power of symbols, and this one not, though probably no more workable given the technology. Be sure to run the little videos, one of which shows more clearly than the article how new technology (including television) was to be used to share information and images.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/science/17mund.html?ref=science

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