“Bent and Directed Towards Him”: A Stylistic Analysis of Kircher’s Sunflower Clock

Abstract

In this article, I explore the potential of style concepts, and especially the concept of the baroque, for the history of science. I argue for a pragmatic theory of style that avoids the traditional problems of essentialist or idealist style concepts. A pragmatic style concept is very useful for describing larger cultural structures, based on resemblances between different practices, especially if evidence of concrete circulations of knowledge is lacking. Style concepts such as the ‘baroque’ are not only relevant for discerning large scale structures, but they can also be an indispensable tool for historians of science to make sense of particular practices or objects. I illustrate this by analysing one of the most striking marvels of the baroque: a clock made from a sunflower plant. The historiography has analysed this object as part of the controversy around copernicanism. In order to come to grips with this object, however, it is important to embed it in its baroque context. From studying the meanings of clocks, magnetism and sunflowers in different practices, certain resemblances come to the fore. These resemblances point at a broader ‘baroque culture’, which in its turn helps us to better contextualise and understand the sunflower clock.