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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Historian Pamela O. Long will present a series of free public lectures at Oregon State University April 27-30 that focus on "The Artisan/Practitioner and the Scientific Revolution."

In her three lectures, Long will examine the complex group of changes collectively referred to as the "scientific revolution," which brings to mind the discoveries of Copernicus, Vesalius, Galileo, Descartes, Newton and others.

"Scientific revolution" also refers to major changes in understanding the natural world, including the structure of the cosmos, physics and the science of motion, anatomy, natural history, physiology, and medicine. These transformations were accompanied by changes in the methods used for investigating nature.

The OSU lectures focus on the ways in which artisans, craftsmen and craftswomen, architect/engineers, and other practitioners influenced the development of new methodologies for the investigation of science and nature in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The schedule of three lectures is:

"The Artisan/Practitioner and the Scientific Revolution: An Issue in the History of Science"; Tuesday, April 27, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Journey Room

"Art and Nature: A Changing Relationship in the 15th and 16th Centuries"; Thursday, April 29, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Journey Room

"Trading Zones: Exchanges of Practice and Learning in Renaissance Europe"; Friday, April 30, noon, Memorial Union Journey Room.

Long is a historian whose fellowships include a Guggenheim as well as residencies at the American Academy in Rome, Princeton, MIT, and the Getty Research Institute. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her publications include "Openness, Secrecy, Authorship: Technical Arts and the Culture of Knowledge from Antiquity to the Renaissance" (2001), awarded the Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best first book in intellectual history.

Long's lectures will be published by the OSU Press as the fourth volume in the Horning Visiting Scholars Publication Series.

For more information, contact the history department at 541-737-8560 or visit http://oregonstate.edu/cla/history/