Dr Vincent Roy-Di Piazza
I am an early modern historian of science and religion, political economy, and the Northern World. I recently obtained my DPhil at Oxford (2022) in history of science, medicine, economic and social history.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Coucil. I am also the Hagströmer Fellow 2023 at the Hagströmer Library of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Research Interests
• Early modern history of science
• History of religion
• Natural and environmental history
• History of the body, slavery, and race-making in the Enlightenment
• European and Atlantic history
My research currently focuses on three projects.
The first centres on the interplay between natural science and religion in the Enlightenment. My writings in this area range from the evolution of Swedish climactic science (Etudes Germaniques, 2021) to debates over African superiority, the political economy of colonization, and slavery (Intellectual History Review, 2023). My upcoming research explores the sources of Linnean human taxonomy.
I am also working on a new biography of the Swedish parliamentarian, philosopher and mystic theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) exploring his lifelong obsession with the soul-body problem. I have written about various aspects of Swedenborg's life and thought, and I have a broader interest in currents related to his ideas and posterity.
My third project is the early modern history of the plurality of worlds. I am interested in the links between astronomy, the afterlife, and extra-terrestrialism (Annals of Science, 2020). I recently published a popular blogpost about early modern views of life on other planets (Voltaire Foundation, 2023).
Contact
You can find out more about my research on my Personal webpage and reach out via X/Twitter: @RoyDiPiazza