Analyzing the Production of Great Minds during the Renaissance
Arron Phillip Mattson · 2013
The purpose of this project is to determine the suitability of analytics techniques for use with historical data, particularly that pertaining to Renaissance era artists, scientists, and polymaths from 1300-1650 in France and Italy. The study begins with the automation of data collection based on text processing. This is expanded upon by an investigation into efficient and useful storage of the data and then followed by an inspection of the application of various network analysis and visualization techniques. Through the application of modern practices in computational mathematics, data mining, and network theory, I will provide greater clarity into the most instrumental people and places of the Renaissance men’s success. This work will provide benefit to organizations seeking to incubate creativity as well as to historians and students of history looking for a way to easily compare historical figures from a spectrum of eras.