10/01/2017 LooseNotesandCapaciousMemory:RobertBoylesNoteTakinganditsRationale:IntellectualHistoryReview:Vol20,No3

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Intellectual History Review
Volume 20, 2010 - Issue 3: Note-Taking in Early Modern Europe

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ARTICLES

Loose Notes and Capacious Memory:

Robert Boyles NoteTaking and its
Rationale
Richard Yeo
Pages 335-354 | Published online: 04 Aug 2010

Download citation http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17496977.2010.492613

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Abstract

Whereas his contemporaries were explicitly aware that the limits of memory
called for scrupulous arrangement of ones papers, Boyles papers remained
chaotic throughout his life, necessitating a habitual recourse to memory. This
invites consideration of Boyles views on the use of memory and notes, taking
account of the precepts and options of his day. Like many other early modern
virtuosi, Boyle made copious notes comprising both textual extracts and

empirical information, but he did not maintain large commonplace books of

the kind recommended by Renaissance humanists; nor did he publicize an
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account of his notetaking methods, as John Locke did. However, through his
early contacts with Samuel Hartlib, Boyle was exposed to the ways in which
diverse information could be noted, stored and used. Furthermore, his
practice exemplified the wellknown dual function of notes as both prompting
memory and relieving it. Boyle did not pause to write a sustained essay on
these issues; nevertheless, scattered throughout his prefaces, advertisements,
works, notebooks and manuscripts there are significant comments on his
practice of making what he called loose notes. Boyle was aware of the kinds
of notes he kept and his reliance on both memory and notes as prompts to
reflection and thought.

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