This essay argues for integrating the history of ignorance into the history of knowledge. Through a case study of the (failed) project of colonial Virginian sericulture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it explores the entanglement of various forms of knowledge and ignorance. These comprise forms of knowledge that have been presented as certain, such as clues and rules, and empirical, such as observations and questionnaires. They also include forms highlighting probabilism and risk‐benefit analyses, such as projects, and forms that made a virtue of uncertainty, such as hints. By exploring the cultural meanings and social functions of these forms of knowledge, this essay illustrates their coproduction with sociopolitical ideals, norms, and biases. The history of unspecified ignorance—including knowledge suppressed due to racism, misogyny, and other social biases—intersects with the history of these agnotological and epistemological tools. Such intersections collectively make up the history of knowledge.

中文翻译：

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进入未知：知识历史中的线索，提示和项目

本文主张将无知的历史整合到知识的历史中。通过对十七和十八世纪弗吉尼亚殖民地蚕桑业（失败）项目的案例研究，它探索了各种形式的知识和无知的纠缠。这些包括已经确定的知识形式，例如线索和规则，以及经验性的形式，例如观察和问卷。它们还包括突出概率和风险收益分析的表格（例如项目）和利用不确定性的表格（例如提示）。通过探讨这些知识形式的文化含义和社会功能，本文说明了它们与社会政治理想，规范和偏见的共同产生。未指明的无知的历史-包括由于种族主义，厌女症，和其他社会偏见-与这些方法，认识论工具的历史相交。这些交叉点共同构成了知识的历史。