Santorio Santori and the Emergence of Quantified Medicine, 1614-1790 : Corpuscularianism, Technology and Experimentation

This book examines the life and works of Santorio Santori and his impact on the history of medicine and natural philosophy. Reputed as the father of experimental medicine and procedures, he is also known for his invention of numerous scientific instruments, including early precision medical devices (pulsimeters, hygrometers, thermometers, anemometers), as well as clinical and surgical tools. The chapters in this volume explore Santorio's legacy through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They highlight the role played by medical practitioners such as Santorio in the development of corpuscularian ideas, central to the 'new science' of the period, and place new emphasis on the role of the life sciences, chemistry and medicine in encouraging new forms of experimentation and instrument-making. Chapters 1 and 2 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.-- Provided by publisher Preface Acknowledgments Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction 1 A Tale of Oblivion and Rebirth 2 Santorio’s Life and Works 2.1 Early Life, Travels and Setting in Venice (1561–1593) 2.2 Between Venice and Padua (1593–1611) 2.3 The Ars de Statica Medicina and the Obizzi Controversy (1614–1615) 2.4 President of the Collegio Veneto and Resignation from the Chair of Medicine (1616–1624) 2.5 The Final Years 1625–1636 3 ‘Not that Close’: The Problematic Relations Between Santorio and Galileo 4 New Instruments for a New Medicine 5 Outlines for a Conclusion Chapter 2: ‘Gears of an Inner Clock’: Santorio’s Theory of Matter and Its Applications 1 Purpose, Context and Development of Santorio’s Natural Philosophy 1.1 Preliminary Considerations 1.2 Historical Development 2 The Architecture of the Theory 2.1 Rudio’s Criticisms and the Link to Occult Qualities 2.2 In Defence of Method 2.3 Experiments on the Generation of Qualities 2.4 ‘Situs’, ‘Figura’, ‘Numerus’ 2.5 Further Developments: The Role of Particles and the Vortex 2.6 The Role of Substantial Form 3 Limits, Strengths and Applications 3.1 A New Concept of Digestion 3.2 Application to ‘Medicina Statica’ 3.3 Mixtures 3.4 Application to Natural Philosophy and Diagnosis 3.5 Applications to Technology 4 Conclusions Chapter 3: The Uncertainty of Medicine: Readings and Reactions to Santorio Between Tradition and Reformation (1615–1721) 1 The Philosophical and Cultural Backdrop of Obizzi’s Polemic 2 Obizzi’s Motifs and Arguments in the ‘Staticomastix’ 3 Leonardo Di Capua: Uncertainty as Intrinsic to Medical Practice 4 Santorio in England: Popular and Learned Criticisms 5 Conclusions Chapter 4: Daniel Sennert’s Response to Santorio Santori in the Light of Chymical Atomism 1 Atomism and Occult Qualities 2 Sennert Versus Santorio 3 Conclusion Chapter 5: Atoms, Mixture, and Temperament in Early Modern Medicine: The Alchemical and Mechanical Views of Sennert and Beeckman 1 Sennert on Minimal Particles and the Superior Form 1.1 Elements as Minima 1.2 From Minimal Particles to Atoms 2 Isaac Beeckman on Atomic Elements and Geometrical Proportion 2.1 Elements and Pores 2.2 The Minima and “Homogenea” of Bodies 2.3 The Spatial Arrangement of “Particles” 3 Santorio’s Theory of Mixture in Light of Sennert and Beeckman 4 Conclusion Chapter 6: Santorio, Regius, and Descartes: The Quantification and Mechanization of the Passions in Seventeenth-Century Medicine 1 Henricus Regius Between Santorio and Descartes 2 Regius Against Descartes: The Status of the Mind 3 Descartes’ Mechanics of Passions 4 Regius on Passions 5 Santorio: Weighing the Passions 6 Conclusion: A Complementary Association Chapter 7: Santorio and Leibniz on Natural Immortality: The Question of Emergence and the Question of Emanative Causation 1 Introduction 2 Natural Immortality and the Question of Emergence 3 Natural Immortality and the Question of Emanative Causation 4 Conclusion Chapter 8: Santorio Santori on Plague: Ideas and Experience Between Venice and Naples Chapter 9: “An inquisitive man, considering when and where he liv’d”: Robert Boyle on Santorio Santori and Insensible Perspiration 1 Introduction 2 Boyle’s Early Atomism and Santorio 3 The Doctrine of Effluvia and Boyle’s Corpuscular Philosophy 4 The Human Body and Insensible Perspiration: Between Chymistry and Mechanics 5 Experimenting on Insensible Perspiration 6 Epilogue Chapter 10: Giovanni Alfonso Borelli and Santorio on the Explanation of Fevers 1 Introduction: Borelli’s Life and Work 2 Borelli’s Work on Pestilential Fevers 3 Conclusion Chapter 11: Bodies in Balance: Santorio’s Legacy in Baglivi’s Medicine 1 Introduction 1.1 Formation and Organization of Canones 1.2 Santorio and Baglivi 2 A New Interpretation of Santorio’s Statics: Towards a Fibrillary Conception of Human Body 2.1 Human Body is a “machina ex fibris mire contexta” 2.2 Beyond the Humoral eukrasia 3 Does a “statica mentis” Exist? 4 Conclusions Chapter 12: Disputing Santorio: Johannes de Gorter’s Neurological Theory of Insensible Perspiration 1 Balancing Ingestion and Excretion 2 Perspiration and the Nerves 3 Spirits and Effluvia 4 Sweating it Out Chapter 13: Santorio’s Influence on the Dietetics of Carl Linnaeus 1 A Work to Be Kissed 2 On the Development of Carl Linnaeus’ Medical Thinking 2.1 Ancient and Modern Sources 2.2 Following His Master’s Advice 3 Santorio in Linnaeus’ Dietetic 3.1 ‘Diaeta naturalis’ on perspiratio insensibilis 3.2 The Ars De Statica Medicina in ‘Diaeta naturalis’ 3.3 ATTRATRIX VIS 3.4 Santorio in the ‘Lachesis naturalis’ 3.5 Dissertatio Physiologica de Perspiratione Insensibili 4 Linked by Aphorisms 5 Conclusions Chapter 14: Weighing Authority: Lavoisier’s and Séguin’s Reassessment of Santorio’s Experiments on Transpiration 1 Lavoisier’s Chemical Education and Medicine 2 Lavoisier and Santorio 3 The “chemical” Physiology of Respiration and Transpiration: Lavoisier’s and Séguin’s Response to the Sanctorian Tradition 4 Conclusion Index