Mechanism, Experiment, Disease [Paperback]

A leading early modern anatomist and physician, Marcello Malpighi often compared himself to that periods other great mindGalileo. Domenico Bertoloni Meli here explores Malpighis work and places it in the context of seventeenth-century intellectual life.

Malpighis interests were wide and varied. As a professor at the University of Bologna, he confirmed William Harveys 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 Malpighis 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 Malpighis 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 Melis critical study of this key figure and the works of his contemporariesincluding Borelli, Swammerdam, Redi, and Ruyschopens a wonderful window onto the scientific and medical worlds of the seventeenth century.