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For the Week of
10/1/08 |
Assignment 5
Vesalius, Servetus, Harvey,
Galileo
HarveyŐs Circulation (circle-u-lation) of the Blood
Read Koestler (Galileo) pp.
431-470. 39pp
Read this whole
chatper (pp. 54-73): Debus-Harvey_Chapter-3.7MB.pdf. This is an overview of anatomy and
physiology and should put things in better perspective. 19pp
Look
at this PDF of excerpts from VesaliusŐ De humani corporis fabrica [On the fabric of the human body] from 1543.
Vesalius_DeFabrica100-OCR-9.8MB.pdf
Read
specifically the following: (be
aware that descriptions of plates generally precede the plates)
PDF
pp. 7-11 and follow along with the pictures.
Here
is a higer resolution jpeg of the frontispiece from the 1543 edition:
Vesalius-1543-frontis.jpg
– 1.4MB
PDF
pp. 16-17
PDF
pp. 25-26
PDF
pp. 35-37 (identify all the tools if you can)
PDF
pp. 72-75
PDF
pp. 100-101 which describes the Galenic system of spirits (I apologize for not
including plate 72).
Read
over a few more that grab your attention.
Read chapters
VIII-IX (PDF pp. 24-28) and XIII-XIV (PDF pp. 34-40) of HarveyŐs Anatomical
Exercises on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et
sanguinis in animalibus, often referred to
simply as De motu cordis) first
published in 1628. I personally think that this book has some of the most
convincing arguments in the history of science. For a souped up assignment you could read other parts. 10pp
Write: Choose from the followingÉ
Option A: Write an essay of appropriate length that dissects and analyses chapters VIII-IX from the Harvey reading above. Discuss quantification as a method of doing and proving scientific theory and extract his quantified data and make it more readable by making it into a chart, or graph, or table or similar format. Diagrams such as cross sections of arteries or veins or cylindrical volumes or heart cavities may be useful.
Option B: Write an essay of appropriate length that dissects and analyses chapters XIII-XIV. Do as Harvey instructs and reproduce these demonstrations. Draw them up or augment the illustrations from the reading or better yet, take photographs from your own arm or the arm of somebody willing to have you do this to them. Discuss how valves make these arguments work and support a circulatory theory. [Students in the past have taken photographs of these experiments with excellent results.]
Feel free to riff on either of these options by using modern sources. Why might I think that these arguments are convincing? What makes them believable or unbelievable? Feel free to disagree with me. Being convinced by an argument is a personal experience and not subject to evaluation.
Souped-up essays could analyze more parts from the Harvey and/or Vesalius and use some of the supplementary material from the citations below. These souped-up essays should merge the sources into a coherent whole and not just be separate essay-ettes forced to live on the same page. An expanded experimental documented using photographs could be also be done. Or you might have an altogether different idea. Engage (and cite).
Partial Bibliography- Items in bold are in the eLibrary. If a link is dead, let me know. I havenŐt transferred all of this stuff to mifami.org, but it is still up on my old site and the old links ought to work.
Ceglia, Francesco de. "Rotten Corpses, a Disembowelled Woman, Flayed Man. Images of the Body from the End of the 17th to the Beginning of the 19th Century. Florentine Wax Models in the First-Hand Accounts of Visitors." Perspectives on Science 14 (2006): 417-456. Ceglia-RottenCorpsesDisembowelledWomen-460KB.pdf
Debus, Allen G. Man and Nature in the Renaissance. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978. Debus-Harvey_Chapter-3.7MB.pdf.
Boas, Marie. The Scientific Renaissance, 1450-1630. Vol. II The Rise of Modern Science, ed. A. Rupert Hall. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1962.
Jardine, Lisa. Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution: Anchor Books, 2000. Excerpt on extensions of Harvy-esque techniques. Jardin_IngeniousPursuitExcerpt-Beyond_Harvey-988KB.pdf This reading is short and rather morbid.
Farber, Eduard. "The Color of Venous Blood." Isis 45, no. 1 (1954): pp. 3-9. Farber_ColorofBlood-228KB.pdf
Ferrari, Giovanna. "Public Anatomy Lessons and the Carnival: The Anatomy Theatre of Bologna." Past and Present, no. 117 (1987): 50-106. Ferrari-Public_Anatomy_Carnival_Bologna-6MB.pdf
Fleming, Donald. "Galen on the Motions of the Blood in the Heart and Lungs." Isis 46, no. 1 (1955): pp. 14-21. Fleming_GalenBloodmotioninheartlungs-296KB.pdf
________. "William Harvey and the Pulmonary Circulation." Isis 46, no. 4 (1955): pp. 319-327. Fleming_HarveyandPulmonaryCirculation-340KB.pdf
Gorham, Geoffrey. "Mind-Body Dualism and the Harvey-Descartes Controversy." Journal of the History of Ideas 55, no. 2 (1994): 211-234. Gorham_Mind-BodyHarvey-Descartes-800KB.pdf
Harvey, William. "On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals (De Motu Cordis)." In Scientific Papers; Physiology, Medicine, Surgery, Geology, with Introductions, Notes and Illustrations, 91 pp. New York: P. F. Collier & son, Internet Edition from Modern History Sourcebook, Fordham University, 1901, 1st Latin ed. from 1628. Harvey_DeMotuCordis-1.7MB.pdf
Hill, Christopher. "William Harvey and the Idea of Monarchy." Past and Present 27 (1964): pp. 54-72. Hill_HarveyandMonarchy-506KB.pdf
________. "William Harvey (No Parliamentarian, No Heretic) and the Idea of Monarchy." Past and Present 31 (1965): pp. 97-103. Hill_HarveyNoHereticMonarchy-189KB.pdf
Kemp, Martin. "Dissection and Divinity in Leonardo's Late Anatomies." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 35 (1972): 200-225. Kemp-Dissection_Leonardo_Late_Anatomies-8.1MB.pdf
Messbarger, Rebecca. "Waxing Poetic: Anna Morandi Manzolini's Anatomical Sculptures." Configurations 9 (2001): 65-97. Messbarger-WaxingPoetic-Manzolini-256KB.pdf
Park, Katharine. "The Criminal and the Saintly Body: Autopsy and Dissection in Renaissance Italy." Renaissance Quarterly 47, no. 1 (1994): 1-33. Park-Criminal-Saintly_Body-Autopsy-Dissection-3.5MB.pdf
Pagel, Walter. "William Harvey: Some Neglected Aspects of Medical History." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 7 (1944): pp. 144-153. Pagel_HarveyNeglectedMedHistory.pdf [472 KB]
Plochmann, George Kimball. "William Harvey and His Methods." Studies in the Renaissance 10 (1963): 192-210. Plochmann_HarveyandHisMethods-576KB.pdf
Servetus, Michael, and Charles Donald O'Malley. Michael Servetus, a Translation of His Geographical, Medical, and Astrological Writings. Philadelphia,: American Philosophical Society, 1953. Servetus-OMalleyTrans120-7.7MB.pdf This has the specific English translation of the lesser circulation passage and several other interesting parts.
Servetus, Michael, and Angel Alcal‡. Restituci—n Del Cristianismo. Translated by Angel Alcala y Luis Betes Publicaciones De La Fundaci—n Universitaria Espa–ola. Cl‡sicos Olvidados ; 3. Madrid: Fundaci—n Universitaria Espa–ola, 1980. Servetus_RestitutionDeChrist72-16.9MB.pdf Excerpts. This PDF is in Spanish and is of pretty poor quality, but it has lots of material.
Siraisi, Nancy G. "Some Current Trends in the Study of Renaissance Medicine." Renaissance Quarterly 37, no. 4 (1984): 585-600. Siraisi_Trends_Renaissance_medicine-452KB.pdf
Siraisi, Nancy G. "The Music of Pulse in the Writings of Italian Academic Physicians (Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries)." Speculum: A Journal of Mediaeval Studies 50, no. 4 (1975): 689-710. Siraisi-Music_of_the_Pulse-ben_Luca-780KB.pdf
Siraisi, Nancy G. "Vesalius and the Reading of Galen's Teleology." Renaissance Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1997): 1-37. Siraisi-Vesalius_reading_Galen-1MB.pdf
Vesalius: This is an excellent web site that keeps getting bigger, put out by Northwestern University. http://vesalius.northwestern.edu/ This has full translations of most if not all of De Humani Corporis Fabrica. This would make an excellent source for a souped up homework. [You have to click on those little triangles to get access to the links to the translations of the various parts. The interface is a bit opaque.]
Wilson, Luke. "William Harvey's Prelectiones: The Performance of the Body in the Renaissance Theater of Anatomy." Representations, no. 17 (1987): 62-95. Wilson_Harvey_Body_Theater_of_Anatomy1.2MB.pdf
Detail from Plate 89 from our Vesalius readingÉ from
the Tabulae sex (1538).
The rete mirable was the organ that Galen proposed
that actually doesnŐt exist in the human body.
From VesaliusŐ De Fabrica (woodcuts by Calcar)
The original skull cap. Perhaps Giovanna (Caterina)
used this for her love potion.
From HarveyŐs De motu cordisÉ
(1st ed. in Latin printed in 1628)
WhatŐs wrong with this picture?
Made by Clemente Susini (1754 - 1814); wax
La Specola, University of Florence
[?] with the anatomist Paolo Mascagni (1752 - 1815)
In this one, also by Susini, the lid comes off.
If you want to do an assignment on these creepy wax anatomical models
see the Ceglia and
the Messbarger articles above.
Also of interest might be the Park, Ferrari and the Wilson.
Review Materials: posted 10/11/08
Vesalius-Harvey-review-2.3MB.pdf
Back to Syllabus [SciRev Fall 2008]
Me – scirevf08@mifami.org