Ada Palmer

Historian specializing in the Renaissance, the history of science, and the impact of information technology.

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

The success of a new technology is contingent on the co-development of viable business models and distribution networks; mass production alone is insufficient.

Censorship is a fundamentally flawed strategy because information will always flow through the fastest available medium, outpacing authorities, who also consistently misidentify the most dangerous ideas.

The modern scientific method was not a simple discovery but an ideological shift, applying Machiavelli's method of using history as a casebook to the natural world and valuing shared knowledge over proprietary secrets.

The loss of cheap writing materials (papyrus) after the fall of Rome was a pivotal, multi-century crisis that severely restricted the preservation and transmission of knowledge in Europe.

Renaissance Florence operated as a unique merchant-run republic where power was wielded not through titles but through economic leverage, patronage as propaganda, and the statistical manipulation of its lottery-based government.

Podcast consensus on Palmer

Points of consensus

▶The material constraints of information technology, such as the cost of parchment or the lack of distribution networks for printed books, are critical and often overlooked drivers of historical outcomes.Apr 2026

▶The speed and structure of information networks are decisive in political and religious conflicts; faster, decentralized networks consistently outmaneuver slower, centralized authorities like censors.Apr 2026

▶The modern concept of science as a collaborative, public enterprise is a specific historical development, contrasting sharply with the secretive, proprietary approach of earlier innovators like Leonardo da Vinci and Brunelleschi.

▶The Medici family's power in Florence was not based on formal titles but on sophisticated economic and statistical manipulation of the city's lottery-based government.Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶Palmer presents the Inquisition in a dual role: as a repressive censorship body that was largely ineffective, and simultaneously as the accidental inventor of scientific peer review through its efforts to verify claims in books.Apr 2026

▶Renaissance humanism is depicted as both a failure in its stated goal of creating virtuous rulers (producing the Borgias) and a success in developing analytical methods (Machiavelli's) that would later form the basis of the scientific method.Apr 2026

▶The Florentine Republic is portrayed with nuance, as both an innovative, tyrant-proof government run by merchant guilds and a system that was easily subverted by the concentrated economic power of a single family.Apr 2026

▶Literacy in Renaissance Florence is presented as a complex phenomenon: while male literacy was exceptionally high at 90%, it was a functional literacy for commerce, not the deep reading of books, challenging simple definitions of a 'literate society'.

Key themes

▶Information Networks as Catalysts for RevolutionApr 2026

Palmer argues that shifts in the speed and structure of information distribution are primary drivers of major historical changes. The Protestant Reformation, for example, was enabled by pamphlet networks that could move ideas faster than authorities could react, a principle she extends to modern social media.

For analysts, this suggests that the control and structure of underlying information infrastructure are more critical battlegrounds for influence than the content itself; disruption is most likely to emerge from new distribution channels, not just new ideas.

▶The Accidental Architectures of ModernityApr 2026

Many modern institutions arose from unforeseen consequences or adaptations to specific problems. Palmer highlights how the Inquisition's need to verify censored books inadvertently led to the invention of peer review, and the printing industry's distribution crisis was solved by creating the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Legacy institutions can be unexpected sources of radical innovation when forced to adapt to new technological or ideological pressures, creating opportunities where none seem to exist.

▶The Economics of Knowledge and PowerApr 2026

Palmer consistently emphasizes the material and economic factors behind intellectual and political history. The high cost of parchment dictated which classical texts survived, the Medici used art patronage as propaganda to legitimize their merchant-class power, and the printing press's initial failure was a business model problem, not a technological one.

Political and cultural power is often a direct function of controlling or manipulating the economic means of knowledge production and distribution; analyzing these economic underpinnings can reveal future power shifts.

▶The Persistent Failure of CensorshipApr 2026

According to Palmer, censorship regimes are inherently flawed for two reasons. First, they are technologically incapable of suppressing information that moves on the fastest available network. Second, authorities consistently misjudge which ideas are truly revolutionary, focusing on minor contemporary disputes while ignoring transformative thinkers.

Attempts to suppress information in the digital age are likely to fail and may inadvertently signal which emerging ideas or platforms are the most potent and disruptive.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

400-600 AD

Palmer identifies this period as when the majority of classical texts were lost due to the disintegration of papyrus scrolls and the prohibitive cost of parchment, creating a centuries-long information bottleneck.

12th Century

Describes Florence achieving a 90% male literacy rate, driven by the practical needs of commerce rather than literary or academic pursuits.

15th Century

Details the rise of the Medici family, who used their economic power to statistically control Florence's lottery-based government, and the failure of the printing press's initial business model due to a lack of distribution networks.

Early 16th Century

Highlights the development of pamphlet distribution networks, which enabled the Protestant Reformation by allowing ideas to spread faster than the Catholic Church could suppress them.

Late 17th Century

Palmer pinpoints this as the period when the Inquisition, in its efforts to censor scientific works post-Galileo, established an experimental laboratory and inadvertently invented the process of peer review.

Suggested prompts

How does Palmer's model of information networks versus censorship apply to modern state-level internet firewalls and the use of VPNs or decentralized platforms? &nearr;Based on Palmer's claims, what historical parallels can be drawn between the printing press's initial business failure and the current challenges in monetizing digital media? &nearr;In what ways might modern tech innovators, who prioritize proprietary secrets over open collaboration, be considered 'saboteurs' in the vein of Leonardo da Vinci, according to Palmer's framework? &nearr;How does Palmer's analysis of the Medici's statistical control over a 'random' government provide a framework for understanding modern influence in democratic systems? &nearr;

Key concepts

Renaissance Florence 1 ep History of Science 1 ep Information Distribution 1 ep Printing Press 1 ep Censorship 1 ep Medici Family 1 ep Machiavelli 1 ep The Inquisition 1 ep Leonardo da Vinci 1 ep

Notable quotes

“you cannot censor whatever moves the information fastest because it will move the information faster than you can move.”

Ada Palmer · Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada Palmer

“the problem is printed books are a mass-produced commodity in a world that does not have distribution networks for mass-produced commodities... you have a mass-produced product you need a distribution mechanism before you can sell it”

Ada Palmer · Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada Palmer

“they decided after Galileo that they had a duty to verify the truth of the books that they were sent to censor... they needed to repeat the mechanical experiments to see whether they were true. So they effectively, the Inquisition, invented peer review.”

Ada Palmer · Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada Palmer

“that's the generation of Francis Bacon and Galileo, who say, hey, let's use the information differently. Let's use nature as a casebook of examples the way Machiavelli said we should use history.”

Ada Palmer · Why Leonardo was a saboteur, Gutenberg went broke, and Florence was weird – Ada Palmer

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

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