Santorio Santori and the Emergence of Quantified Medicine, 1614-1790: Corpuscularianism, Technology and Experimentation (Palgrave Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine)

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 6 Acknowledgments 11 Contents 12 Notes on Contributors 16 List of Figures 21 Chapter 1: Introduction 25 1 A Tale of Oblivion and Rebirth 26 2 Santorio’s Life and Works 29 2.1 Early Life, Travels and Setting in Venice (1561–1593) 29 2.2 Between Venice and Padua (1593–1611) 35 2.3 The Ars de Statica Medicina and the Obizzi Controversy (1614–1615) 37 2.4 President of the Collegio Veneto and Resignation from the Chair of Medicine (1616–1624) 43 2.5 The Final Years 1625–1636 49 3 ‘Not that Close’: The Problematic Relations Between Santorio and Galileo 50 4 New Instruments for a New Medicine 58 5 Outlines for a Conclusion 62 Chapter 2: ‘Gears of an Inner Clock’: Santorio’s Theory of Matter and Its Applications 88 1 Purpose, Context and Development of Santorio’s Natural Philosophy 89 1.1 Preliminary Considerations 89 1.2 Historical Development 90 2 The Architecture of the Theory 91 2.1 Rudio’s Criticisms and the Link to Occult Qualities 91 2.2 In Defence of Method 92 2.3 Experiments on the Generation of Qualities 95 2.4 ‘Situs’, ‘Figura’, ‘Numerus’ 96 2.5 Further Developments: The Role of Particles and the Vortex 98 2.6 The Role of Substantial Form 100 3 Limits, Strengths and Applications 103 3.1 A New Concept of Digestion 105 3.2 Application to ‘Medicina Statica’ 105 3.3 Mixtures 108 3.4 Application to Natural Philosophy and Diagnosis 108 3.5 Applications to Technology 109 4 Conclusions 113 Chapter 3: The Uncertainty of Medicine: Readings and Reactions to Santorio Between Tradition and Reformation (1615–1721) 126 1 The Philosophical and Cultural Backdrop of Obizzi’s Polemic 128 2 Obizzi’s Motifs and Arguments in the ‘Staticomastix’ 129 3 Leonardo Di Capua: Uncertainty as Intrinsic to Medical Practice 133 4 Santorio in England: Popular and Learned Criticisms 134 5 Conclusions 136 Chapter 4: Daniel Sennert’s Response to Santorio Santori in the Light of Chymical Atomism 141 1 Atomism and Occult Qualities 141 2 Sennert Versus Santorio 148 3 Conclusion 152 Chapter 5: Atoms, Mixture, and Temperament in Early Modern Medicine: The Alchemical and Mechanical Views of Sennert and Beeckman 159 1 Sennert on Minimal Particles and the Superior Form 162 1.1 Elements as Minima 162 1.2 From Minimal Particles to Atoms 165 2 Isaac Beeckman on Atomic Elements and Geometrical Proportion 169 2.1 Elements and Pores 170 2.2 The Minima and “Homogenea” of Bodies 171 2.3 The Spatial Arrangement of “Particles” 173 3 Santorio’s Theory of Mixture in Light of Sennert and Beeckman 175 4 Conclusion 178 Chapter 6: Santorio, Regius, and Descartes: The Quantification and Mechanization of the Passions in Seventeenth-Century Medicine 187 1 Henricus Regius Between Santorio and Descartes 189 2 Regius Against Descartes: The Status of the Mind 193 3 Descartes’ Mechanics of Passions 194 4 Regius on Passions 196 5 Santorio: Weighing the Passions 198 6 Conclusion: A Complementary Association 201 Chapter 7: Santorio and Leibniz on Natural Immortality: The Question of Emergence and the Question of Emanative Causation 213 1 Introduction 213 2 Natural Immortality and the Question of Emergence 216 3 Natural Immortality and the Question of Emanative Causation 225 4 Conclusion 230 Chapter 8: Santorio Santori on Plague: Ideas and Experience Between Venice and Naples 239 Chapter 9: “An inquisitive man, considering when and where he liv’d”: Robert Boyle on Santorio Santori and Insensible Perspiration 261 1 Introduction 261 2 Boyle’s Early Atomism and Santorio 267 3 The Doctrine of Effluvia and Boyle’s Corpuscular Philosophy 269 4 The Human Body and Insensible Perspiration: Between Chymistry and Mechanics 272 5 Experimenting on Insensible Perspiration 278 6 Epilogue 279 Chapter 10: Giovanni Alfonso Borelli and Santorio on the Explanation of Fevers 294 1 Introduction: Borelli’s Life and Work 294 2 Borelli’s Work on Pestilential Fevers 298 3 Conclusion 305 Chapter 11: Bodies in Balance: Santorio’s Legacy in Baglivi’s Medicine 309 1 Introduction 309 1.1 Formation and Organization of Canones 310 1.2 Santorio and Baglivi 312 2 A New Interpretation of Santorio’s Statics: Towards a Fibrillary Conception of Human Body 314 2.1 Human Body is a “machina ex fibris mire contexta” 316 2.2 Beyond the Humoral eukrasia 319 3 Does a “statica mentis” Exist? 321 4 Conclusions 325 Chapter 12: Disputing Santorio: Johannes de Gorter’s Neurological Theory of Insensible Perspiration 336 1 Balancing Ingestion and Excretion 339 2 Perspiration and the Nerves 342 3 Spirits and Effluvia 348 4 Sweating it Out 353 Chapter 13: Santorio’s Influence on the Dietetics of Carl Linnaeus 366 1 A Work to Be Kissed 366 2 On the Development of Carl Linnaeus’ Medical Thinking 367 2.1 Ancient and Modern Sources 367 2.2 Following His Master’s Advice 370 3 Santorio in Linnaeus’ Dietetic 372 3.1 ‘Diaeta naturalis’ on perspiratio insensibilis 372 3.2 The Ars De Statica Medicina in ‘Diaeta naturalis’ 375 3.3 ATTRATRIX VIS 378 3.4 Santorio in the ‘Lachesis naturalis’ 380 3.5 Dissertatio Physiologica de Perspiratione Insensibili 381 4 Linked by Aphorisms 382 5 Conclusions 383 Chapter 14: Weighing Authority: Lavoisier’s and Séguin’s Reassessment of Santorio’s Experiments on Transpiration 390 1 Lavoisier’s Chemical Education and Medicine 390 2 Lavoisier and Santorio 395 3 The “chemical” Physiology of Respiration and Transpiration: Lavoisier’s and Séguin’s Response to the Sanctorian Tradition 401 4 Conclusion 409 Index 422