Abstract
This paper suggests that terms such as “invention,” “secrecy,” and “theft,” bear meanings that differ from one historical context to another. Rather than viewing them as unchanging entities, they are better understood by examining them in terms of actor's categories. The particular milieu in which they are found is relevant to their meaning. Diverse contexts such as the artisan workshop, the technical treatise, and the patent system create diverse attitudes toward invention, secrecy, and theft, as well as diverse meanings. Examples are discussed from craft recipe traditions, from the patent system, from the life of the Florentine architect Brunelleschi, and from the writings of Mariano Taccola and Francesco di Giorgio.
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