STUDIO.nano Resonances Lecture—Invented pasts, past inventions: When technological myths survive historical evidence

Monday, October 26, 4:30pm - 5:30pm (EDT)

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Join STUDIO.nano for the next Resonances Lecture!

Paola Bertucci Professor, Department of History and the History of Science and Medicine Program, Yale University

Why do stories about technological inventions survive even when historical evidence proves them wrong? This talk explores the persistence of fabricated pasts through the remarkable case of Flavio Gioia, the alleged medieval inventor of the navigational compass. Created by a sixteenth-century translation mistake, Gioia never existed, yet he lived a remarkably long life on the printed page and beyond. For centuries, he figured in histories of technology and accounts of the making of the modern world. Following Gioia across texts, images, and monuments, the talk examines what the persistence of technological myths reveals about the role of inventions in narratives of modernity.

Visit the event webpage: https://mitnano.mit.edu/events/studionano-resonances-bertucci

Add to Calendar 2026/10/26 16:30:00 2026/10/26 17:30:00 America/New_York STUDIO.nano Resonances Lecture—Invented pasts, past inventions: When technological myths survive historical evidence Join STUDIO.nano for the next Resonances Lecture!

Paola Bertucci Professor, Department of History and the History of Science and Medicine Program, Yale University

Why do stories about technological inventions survive even when historical evidence proves them wrong? This talk explores the persistence of fabricated pasts through the remarkable case of Flavio Gioia, the alleged medieval inventor of the navigational compass. Created by a sixteenth-century translation mistake, Gioia never existed, yet he lived a remarkably long life on the printed page and beyond. For centuries, he figured in histories of technology and accounts of the making of the modern world. Following Gioia across texts, images, and monuments, the talk examines what the persistence of technological myths reveals about the role of inventions in narratives of modernity.

Visit the event webpage: https://mitnano.mit.edu/events/studionano-resonances-bertucci 12-0168 MITnano mitnano@mit.edu false 30

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