Mechanism, experiment, disease : Marcello Malpighi and seventeenth-century anatomy

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Mechanism, experiment, disease : Marcello Malpighi and seventeenth-century anatomy

Domenico Bertoloni Meli

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011

  • : pbk
  • : hardcover

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Bibliography: p. [367]-426

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

A leading early modern anatomist and physician, Marcello Malpighi often compared himself to that period's other great mind-Galileo. Domenico Bertoloni Meli here explores Malpighi's work and places it in the context of seventeenth-century intellectual life. Malpighi's interests were wide and varied. As a professor at the University of Bologna, he confirmed William Harvey's theory of the circulation of blood; published groundbreaking studies of human organs; made important discoveries about the anatomy of silkworms; and examined the properties of plants. He sought to apply his findings to medical practice. By analyzing Malpighi's work, the author provides novel perspectives not only on the history of anatomy but also on the histories of science, philosophy, and medicine. Through the lens of Malpighi and his work, Bertoloni Meli investigates a range of important themes, from sense perception to the meaning of Galenism in the seventeenth century. Bertoloni Meli contends that to study science and medicine in the seventeenth century one needs to understand how scholars and ideas crossed disciplinary boundaries. He examines Malpighi's work within this context, describing how anatomical knowledge was achieved and transmitted and how those processes interacted with the experimental and mechanical philosophies, natural history, and medical practice. Malpighi was central in all of these developments, and his work helped redefine the intellectual horizon of the time. Bertoloni Meli's critical study of this key figure and the works of his contemporaries-including Borelli, Swammerdam, Redi, and Ruysch-opens a wonderful window onto the scientific and medical worlds of the seventeenth century.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Anatomy, Medicine, and the New Philosophy 1. Anatomical Research in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century 2. Malpighi's Role on the Anatomical Stage 3. Medical Locations: The Sites of Malpighi's Work 4. Mechanism and Mechanics 5. Experiment and Collaboration 6. Disease and Anatomy 7. Structure and Organization Part I: The Rise of Mechanistic and Microscopic Anatomy: Malpighi's Formation and Association with Borelli 1. The New Anatomy, the Lungs, and Respiration 1.1. Changing Anatomical Horizons 1.2. Malpighi's Bologna Apprenticeship: Anatomical Venues and Vivisection 1.3. Malpighi's Pisa Apprenticeship: Microscopy and the New Philosophy 1.4. Malpighi's Epistolae on the Lungs 1.5. The Purpose of Respiration: Thruston, Lower, and Hooke 2. Epidemic Fevers and the Challenge to Galenism 2.1. Galenic Traditions and New Medical Thinking 2.2. Borelli and the Sicilian Epidemics of 1647-48 2.3. Borelli, Malpighi, and the Pisa Epidemics of 1661 2.4. The 1665 Controversy between the Neoterics and the Galenists 2.5. Malpighi's Risposta to Galenistarum triumphus 3. The Anatomy of the Brain and of the Sensory Organs 3.1. Atomism and the Anatomy of the Senses 3.2. Brain Research in the 1660s: Willis, Steno, and Malpighi 3.3. Malpighi's Anatomical Findings on Taste and Touch 3.4. Fracassati's Far-Reaching Investigations 3.5. Bellini and Rossetti: Atomistic Anatomy of Taste and Touch Part II: Secretion and the Mechanical Organization of the Body: Glands as the Centerpiece of Malpighi's Investigations 4. The Glandular Structure of the Viscera 4.1. The Revival of Glands 4.2. Changing Perceptions on Glands: Glisson, Wharton, and Steno 4.3. Malpighi's Treatise on the Liver 4.4. The Brain and the Cerebral Cortex 4.5. The Kidneys: Bellini and Malpighi 4.6. The Spleen and Its Problems 5. Fat, Blood, and the Body's Organization 5.1. The Necessity of Matter and the Animal's Benefit 5.2. Descartes on Fat, Blood, and Nutrition 5.3. Malpighi on Fat and Its Philosophical Implications 5.4. Blood Transfusions 5.5. Malpighi on Heart Polyps and the Nature of Blood 6. The Structure of Glands and the Problem of Secretion 6.1. Different Perspectives on Glands 6.2. Intestinal Glands and Their Implications 6.3. The Mode of Operation of Glands 6.4. Glands in the Theatre: Bellini, Sbaraglia, and Malpighi 6.5. Nuck's New Taxonomy of Glands Part III: Between Anatomy and Natural History: Malpighi andthe Royal Society 7. The Challenge of Insects 7.1. Changing Perceptions on Insects 7.2. Redi: Experiments and Generation 7.3. Malpighi: Historia and Anatomy 7.4. Swammerdam: Metamorphosis and Classification 7.5. Swammerdam and Malpighi: Microstructure and Iconography 8. Generation and the Formation of the Chick in the Egg 8.1. Generation and Its Problems 8.2. Harvey: Epigenesis and the Role of the Faculties 8.3. The Organs of Generation and the Problem of Fecundation 8.4. Swammerdam and the Amsterdam Circle on Preformation 8.5. Malpighi and the Formation of the Chick in the Egg 9. The Anatomy of Plants 9.1. Plants between Anatomy and Natural History 9.2. Malpighi's Anatomy of Plants: Structure, Iconography, and Experiment 9.3. Trionfetti, Malpighi, Cestoni, and the Vegetation of Plants 9.4. Grew and Camerarius: Iconography, "OEconomy," and SexualReproduction Part IV: Anatomy, Pathology, and Therapy: Malpighi's Posthumous Writings 10. The Fortunes of Malpighi's Mechanistic Anatomy 10.1. Mechanistic Anatomy and Malpighi's Vita 10.2. Writing about the Self 10.3. Levels of Mechanical Explanation in Borelli and Malpighi 10.4. Paolo Mini and the Soul-Body Problem 10.5. Ruysch's Challenge and Boerhaave 11. From the New Anatomy to Pathology and Therapy 11.1. A Bologna Controversy and Its Wider Implications 11.2. Sbaraglia's Challenge to Malpighi's Research 11.3. Malpighi: The Medical Signifi cance of the New Anatomy 11.4. Sbaraglia's Empiricism and Methodological Concerns 11.5. Young Morgagni's Covert Intervention 12. Medical Consultations 12.1. Between Theory and Practice, Carnival and Lent 12.2. Publishing Malpighi's Consultations 12.3. Structure and Contents of Malpighi's Consultations 12.4. Curing with the Pen: Francesco Redi 12.5. A Broader Look at Medical Consultations: Vallisneri and Morgagni Epilogue List of Abbreviations Notes References Index

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