Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization

by Meredith F. Small

Overview

An epic cultural journey that reveals how Venetian ingenuity and inventions—from sunglasses and forks to bonds and currency—shaped modernity.

How did a small, isolated city—with a population that never exceeded 100,000, even in its heyday—come to transform western civilization? Acclaimed anthropologist Meredith Small, the author of the groundbreaking Our Babies, Ourselves examines the the unique Venetian social structure that was key to their explosion of creativity and invention that ranged from the material to social.

Whether it was boats or money, medicine or face cream, opera, semicolons, tiramisu or child-labor laws, these all originated in Venice and have shaped contemporary notions of institutions and conventions ever since. The foundation of how we now think about community, health care, money, consumerism, and globalization all sprung forth from the Laguna Veneta.

But Venice is far from a historic relic or a life-sized museum. It is a living city that still embraces its innovative roots. As climate change effects sea-level rises, Venice is on the front lines of preserving its legacy and cultural history to inspire a new generation of innovators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643135380
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Meredith F. Small is a professor of anthropology at Cornell University and the author of Our Babies, Ourselves; What's Love Got to Do with It?; and Female Choices. She has written for Natural History Magazine, Discover, Scientific American, and is a commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She lives in Philadelphia.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 The Spark: Why Humans Invent, Create, and Explore 1

2 Venetians Created Themselves 20

3 The Seven Seas 43

4 A Most Serene Community 69

5 The Art of Medicine and the Idea of Public Health 96

6 Venetians Invented Consumerism 123

7 Venice Changes Money, Banks, Profit, and Brings Us Capitalism 163

8 The Written Word 183

9 The Venetian Way of Life: Leisure Activities 209

Afterword: Tourism, High Water, and the Future of Venice 225

Acknowledgments 245

Chronology of Venetian Inventions 249

Bibliography 263

Notes 287

Index 321

Editorial Reviews

10/05/2020

Small (Our Babies, Ourselves), an anthropology professor at Cornell University, catalogs a dizzying array of Venetian innovations in this illuminating account of how “one small place had an outsized influence on the development of Western culture.” She discusses scientific research into how and why humans invent things, and examines how the origin myths of Venice, among them that God directed St. Mark to the island that became the Rialto, fostered innovation by verifying the Venetian identity as “unique, capable, strong, fearless, and independent.” Small organizes her study by category, beginning with Venetian contributions to maritime exploration (the first map to show a route around the Cape of Good Hope, the wind gauge, Marco Polo), and ending with “entertainment firsts,” including the first casino (the Ridotto, 1638). She also credits Venetians with inventing government bonds, the book copyright, and child labor laws, and discusses more troubling developments, including the creation of the first Jewish ghetto. The book’s final chapter looks at the impact of climate change and tourism on the city. Small enlivens her research with personal anecdotes about her love for Venice, and moves fluidly from one topic to the next. The result is a delightful and informative cabinet of wonders. Agent: Wendy Levinson, Harvey Klinger Agency. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-09-02
Venice does not lack admirers, but this is an inventive addition to a crowded genre.

An anthropologist at Cornell, Small emphasizes the city’s social structure as she describes “how one small place had an outsized influence on the development of Western culture.” Venice lovers already familiar with plaudits by other travelers and historians will enjoy this different perspective. At its peak, historical Venice was far from the largest city in Italy, let alone Europe. A republic for more than 1,000 years, its government was an oligarchy with a weak leader (duke or “doge”) and an economy based on trade. Throughout history, an obsession with making money, although unattractive in an individual, was a feature of the most liberal societies. “Cutthroat” competition among Venice’s businessmen was rarely taken literally, which was not the case in other nations, where disagreements in religion or politics routinely ended in bloodshed. A center of European culture and science during the Renaissance, Venice paid little attention to papal strictures. Galileo’s troubles with religious authorities took place after he left. Taking advantage of the first copyright laws, Venetians established great publishing houses and invented the paperback, most punctuation marks, and the thesaurus. Small gives its heralded arts a nod but focuses mostly on its spectacular stream of new ideas, techniques, and inventions. To facilitate business, Venetians invented double-entry bookkeeping, national banks, government bonds, and reliable currency. Modern experimental medicine began at the University of Padua, then part of Venice. Other firsts include patent laws, eyeglasses, a department of health, public defenders, and national surveys and maps. Most readers know that rising seas are a critical danger, but Small also points out that Venice may be the first city destroyed by tourism. Its shrinking population of about 50,000 hosts 22 million visitors per year, who pack its streets and canals more densely than Disneyland in an area not much bigger. The book includes a “chronology of Venetian inventions.”

An enthusiastic appreciation of a unique, increasingly vulnerable city.

Kirkus Reviews