Bonnie Mak Opens a Cabinet of Curiosities

October Daytime Program

Bonnie Mak On Data Visualization Before There Was Data. Or Visualization. 

Dr. Mak has swung open the door of her Cabinet of Curiosities to reveal the remarkable hidden history of how Renaissance naturalists in the late medieval and early modern periods began to observe, collect, and illustrate flowers, medicinal plants, and other flora … in ways that reflected their purposes more than the actual plants themselves. Drawing on gorgeous 16th century illustrations in rare books, letters between naturalists, and even a library of wooden boxes, Mak will demonstrate that from early days, collecting and representing data has actually been a descriptive practice. Her talk was even filmed in the midst of the beautiful and tranquil Japan House’s gardens at the University of Illinois, where she is a professor in the School of Information Sciences. 

The presentation is free, but advance registration by 10/07/20 is required so that we can send you the Zoom instructions.

All Daytime Programs will begin at 12:30 PM CT via Zoom. The events will consist of quality Zoom presentations with real-time Q&A features immediately following those presentations.