Jacob Moleschott – A Transnational Biography: Science, Politics, and Popularization in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Histoire)

This is the first academic biography of the scientist and politician Jacob Moleschott (1822-1893). Based on a vast range of primary sources in German, Italian, Dutch, French, and Latin, it not only sheds new light on the history of materialism in the natural sciences, but also shows the deep entanglement of science, politics, and popularization in 19th-century Europe. Applying new methods from cultural history and the history of science, Laura Meneghello focuses on processes of knowledge circulation, transnational mobility, and the role of translation in 19th-century science. . https://www.transcript-verlag.de/chunk_detail_seite.php?doi=10.14361%2F9783839439708-toc - Table of Contents Formalia and Acknowledgements 9 Introduction: Jacob Moleschott as Transnational Actor in European Cultural History 13 Object and Research Question 13 State of Research, Theory and Method, Structure 20 Sources and Archives 33 Jacob Moleschott and the Beginning of his European Career 37 The Moleschott Family in Leiden and ’s-Hertogenbosch 40 The Gymnasium at Cleves and the Study of Classical Culture and Idealist Philosophy 43 Studying Medicine at Heidelberg 46 Back to the Netherlands: Medical Practice and Research in the Lab in Utrecht, 1845-1847 55 Back to Heidelberg: Popularization and Revolution, 1847-1856 60 Georg Forster: Moleschott’s Representation of a Politically Engaged Scientist 94 Moleschott’s Anthropologie as Synthesis of All Disciplines: A Life’s Project 100 Conclusion 110 Moleschott’s Popularization of Physiology and Dietetics in Germany 113 Women as Further Popularizers of Moleschott’s Work 122 Nature as Organic Whole: “The Unity of Life” 123 Dietetics 133 Conclusion 137 Zürich: Meeting Point of European Liberal Elites 141 Moleschott at the University of Zürich, 1856-1861 147 Licht und Leben 157 Conclusion 161 Experimental Physiology in Turin and Popularization in the Kingdom of Italy, 1861-1878 163 Moleschott’s Arrival to his “Adoptive Fatherland” 163 Cultural and Professional Life in Turin 175 The Italian Citizenship: Moleschott’s “Grand Naturalization” 181 A Public Personality on the Way to Full Political Engagement 185 Moleschott’s Popularization of the Natural Sciences in Turin and its Transnational Reception 189 Conclusion 220 Moleschott in Rome (1878-1893): Scholar and Senator between Internal and Foreign Politics 223 Moleschott and Women’s Rights 229 Moleschott’s Engagement Against Anti-Semitism 240 Moleschott’s Academic Activity and Popularization of Scientific and Political Ideas at the University of Rome 245 Moleschott’s Conception of Science in the Debates on the Reform of Higher Education in Italy (1886-1887) 259 Shaping the Body of the Nation: Moleschott and the Debate on Physical Education in Nineteenth-Century Italy (1878) 287 Taxation and Nutrition: The Debate on the Abolition of the Grist Tax (Macinato) between Nutritional Theory, Political Economy and Social Policy (1880) 303 Conclusion: Politics, Natural Science, and the Function of the Classics 323 Cultural Politics: The Civilizing Mission of Science 327 The Planned Congrès International pour le Progrès des Sciences Sociales (1866) 329 The Monument to Giordano Bruno and its Political Meaning (1889) 337 Moleschott’s Role of Mediator in the International Sanitary Conference (1885) 351 Moleschott on Criminal Anthropology and Penal Law 357 The Debate About the Conference on Criminal Anthropology (Rome 1885): Moleschott versus Tommasi-Crudeli 359 Moleschott’s Speeches at the International Congress on Criminal Anthropology, Rome 1885 368 Italian Penal Law between Criminal Anthropology and Natural Philosophy 378 Conclusion: Moleschott’s Speeches on Penal Law as a Form of Popularization and a Plea for Secularization 383 Moleschott and Translation 391 Criminal Anthropology and Moleschott’s Collaboration with Cesare Lombroso 391 The Process of Translation and the Circulation of Knowledge 408 Moleschott as Mediating Figure between Nations and Cultures 414 Conclusion: Translation and Mediation 427 Celebrating Moleschott, Remembering Moleschott 429 Celebrating Moleschott: The Feste Giubilari in 1892 429 Remembering Moleschott: Moleschott’s Commemorations at the Senate and at the University 434 Conclusion: Jacob Moleschott, A Transnational Actor between Science and Politics 439 Bibliography 449 Archives (with Abbreviations) 449 Primary Literature by Jacob Moleschott 453 Primary Literature by Authors Other than Jacob Moleschott 467 Reference Works (with Abbreviations) 471 Secondary Literature 472 - . Long description: This is the first academic biography of the scientist and politician Jacob Moleschott (1822-1893). Based on a vast range of primary sources in German, Italian, Dutch, French, and Latin, it not only sheds new light on the history of materialism in the natural sciences, but also shows the deep entanglement of science, politics, and popularization in 19th-century Europe. Applying new methods from cultural history and the history of science, Laura Meneghello focuses on processes of knowledge circulation, transnational mobility, and the role of translation in 19th-century science