Mechanism, Experiment, Disease: Marcello Malpighi and Seventeenth-Century Anatomy

by Meli, Domenico Bertoloni

• ISBN13: 9780801899041
• ISBN10: 0801899044
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PRESS

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Domenico Bertoloni Meli is a professor of history and philosophy of science at Indiana University and author of Thinking with Objects: The Transformation of Mechanics in the Seventeenth Century, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: Anatomy, Medicine, and the New Philosophy	p. 1
Anatomical Research in the Second Half of the Seventeenth Century	p. 1
Malpighi's Role on the Anatomical Stage	p. 4
Medical Locations: The Sites of Malpighi's Work	p. 6
Mechanism and Mechanics	p. 12
Experiment and Collaboration	p. 16
Disease and Anatomy	p. 20
Structure and Organization	p. 22
The Rise of Mechanistic and Microscopic Anatomy: Malpighi's Formation and Association with Borelli	p. 27
The New Anatomy, the Lungs, and Respiration	p. 31
Changing Anatomical Horizons	p. 31
Malpighi's Bologna Apprenticeship: Anatomical Venues and Vivisection	p. 32
Malpighi's Pisa Apprenticeship: Microscopy and the New Philosophy	p. 40
Malpighi's Epistolae on the Lungs	p. 45
The Purpose of Respiration: Thruston, Lower, and Hooke	p. 50
Epidemic Fevers and the Challenge to Galenism	p. 56
Galenic Traditions and New Medical Thinking	p. 56
Borelli and the Sicilian Epidemics of 1647-48	p. 58
Borelli, Malpighi, and the Pisa Epidemics of 1661	p. 63
The 1665 Controversy between the Neoterics and the Galenists	p. 65
Malpighi's Risposta to Galenistarum triumphus	p. 69
The Anatomy of the Brain and of the Sensory Organs	p. 75
Atomism and the Anatomy of the Senses	p. 75
Brain Research in the 1660s: Willis, Steno, and Malpighi	p. 76
Malpighi's Anatomical Findings on Taste and Touch	p. 88
Fracassati's Far-Reaching Investigations	p. 93
Bellini and Rossetti: Atomistic Anatomy of Taste and Touch	p. 97
Secretion and the Mechanical Organization of the Body: Glands as the Centerpiece of Malpighi's Investigations	p. 103
The Glandular Structure of the Viscera	p. 105
The Revival of Glands	p. 105
Changing Perceptions on Glands: Glisson, Wharton, and Steno	p. 106
Malpighi's Treatise on the Liver	p. 113
The Brain and the Cerebral Cortex	p. 119
The Kidneys: Bellini and Malpighi	p. 121
The Spleen and Its Problems	p. 124
Far, Blood, and the Body's Organization	p. 130
The Necessity of Matter and the Animal's Benefit	p. 130
Descartes on Fat, Blood, and Nutrition	p. 132
Malpighi on Fat and Its Philosophical Implications	p. 134
Blood Transfusions	p. 138
Malpighi on Heart Polyps and the Nature of Blood	p. 142
The Structure of Glands and the Problem of Secretion	p. 150
Different Perspectives on Glands	p. 150
Intestinal Glands and Their Implications	p. 151
The Mode of Operation of Glands	p. 158
Glands in the Theatre: Bellini, Sbaraglia, and Malpighi	p. 160
Nuck's New Taxonomy of Glands	p. 165
Between Anatomy and Natural History: Malpighi the Royal Society	p. 171
The Challenge of Insects	p. 175
Changing Perceptions on Insects	p. 175
Redi: Experiments and Generation	p. 179
Malpighi: Historia and Anatomy	p. 186
Swammerdam: Metamorphosis and Classification	p. 194
Swammerdam and Malpighi: Microstructure and Iconography	p. 201
Generation and the Formation of the Chick in the Egg	p. 208
Generation and Its Problems	p. 208
Harvey: Epigenesis and the Role of the Faculties	p. 210
The Organs of Generation and the Problem of Fecundation	p. 215
Swammerdam and the Amsterdam Circle on Preformation	p. 224
Malpighi and the Formation of the Chick in the Egg	p. 227
The Anatomy of Plants	p. 234
Plants between Anatomy and Natural History	p. 234
Malpighi s Anatomy of Plants: Structure, Iconography, and Experiment	p. 237
Trionfetti, Malpighi, Cestoni, and the Vegetation of Plants	p. 254
Grew and Camerarius: Iconography, ô$$$Economy,ö and Sexual Reproduction	p. 262
Anatomy, Pathology, and Therapy: Malpighi's Posthumous Writings	p. 271
The Fortunes of Malpighi's Mechanistic Anatomy	p. 275
Mechanistic Anatomy and Malpighi's Vita	p. 275
Writing about the Self	p. 276
Levels of Mechanical Explanation in Borelli and Malpighi	p. 280
Paolo Mini and the Soul-Body Problem	p. 289
Ruysch's Challenge and Boerhaave	p. 296
From the New Anatomy to Pathology and Therapy	p. 307
A Bologna Controversy and Its Wider Implications	p. 307
Sbaraglias Challenge to Malpighi's Research	p. 309
Malpighi: The Medical Significance of the New Anatomy	p. 311
Sbaraglias Empiricism and Methodological Concerns	p. 321
Young Morgagni s Covert Intervention	p. 326
Medical Consultations	p. 331
Between Theory and Practice, Carnival and Lent	p. 331
Publishing Malpighi's Consultations	p. 334
Structure and Contents of Malpighi's Consultations	p. 338
Curing with the Pen: Francesco Redi	p. 344
A Broader Look at Medical Consultations: Vallisneri and Morgagni	p. 349
Epilogue	p. 355
List of Abbreviations	p. 365
Notes	p. 367
Referrnces	p. 403
Index	p. 427
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