The Ovary of Eve

by Correia, Clara Pinto

• ISBN13: 9780226669526
• ISBN10: 0226669521
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-12-08
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

The Ovary of Eveis a rich and often hilarious account of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century efforts to understand conception. In these early years of the Scientific Revolution, the most intelligent men and women of the day struggled to come to terms with the origins of new life, and one theory--preformation--sparked an intensely heated debate that continued for over a hundred years. Clara Pinto-Correia traces the history of this much maligned theory through the cultural capitals of Europe. "The most wonderfully eye-opening, or imagination-opening book, as amusing as it is instructive."--Mary Warnock, London Observer "[A] fascinating and often humorous study of a reproductive theory that flourished from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century."--Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education "More than just a good story, The Ovary of Eveis an object lesson about the history of science: Don't trust it. . . . Pinto-Correia says she wants to tell the story of history's losers. In doing so, she makes defeat sound more appealing than victory."--Emily Eakin, Nation. "A sparkling history of preformation as it once affected every facet of European culture."--Robert Taylor, Boston Globe

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix	(4)
Foreword	xiii	(6)
Preface	xix
Prologue: Dare to Know	1	(15)
1. All About Eve	16	(49)
2. All About Adam	65	(40)
3. "One Does Not See the Wind"	105	(31)
4. Hopeful Monsters	136	(47)
5. Frogs with Boxer Shorts	183	(28)
6. The H Word	211	(31)
7. The Music of the Spheres	242	(32)
8. Magical Numbers	274	(28)
Epilogue: The Fat Lady Will Not Sing	302	(11)
Notes	313	(48)
Bibliography	361	(16)
Index	377