I am a long time professor and administrator at a community college with research interests in the History of Anatomy and Medicine in 15th and 16th century Europe. Supervisors: Domenico Bertoloni Meli
This volume collects essays dealing with the history of medicine in early modern Europe, and rang... more This volume collects essays dealing with the history of medicine in early modern Europe, and ranging from experiments and practices to the role of erudition in court-medicine, from the study of tarantism and plagues to the uses of drugs, from the collaborations and dissemination of medical knowledge to the epistemological classification of diseases. The essays aim to reveal the boundless investigation in medical knowledge, ultimately blurring the line of diverse fields, and focus on the extension of medicine as a scientia. Besides the investigation of specific figures and several case studies of early modern medicine, the volume opens with an exploration of the Medical School of Padua and also deals with some important locations that shape the science of medicine, such as anatomical theatres, botanical gardens, and museums.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, Jan 2, 2015
In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissection... more In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissections in the early sixteenth century. I point out that in order to overcome the limitations of public anatomical demonstration noted by his predecessors, Vesalius employed several innovative strategies, including the use of animals as dissection subjects, the preparation and display of articulated skeletons, and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that the examination of these three strategies for resolving the challenges of public anatomical demonstration helps us to reinterpret Vesalius's contributions to sixteenth-century anatomy.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, Jan 2, 2015
In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissection... more In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissections in the early sixteenth century. I point out that in order to overcome the limitations of public anatomical demonstration noted by his predecessors, Vesalius employed several innovative strategies, including the use of animals as dissection subjects, the preparation and display of articulated skeletons, and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that the examination of these three strategies for resolving the challenges of public anatomical demonstration helps us to reinterpret Vesalius's contributions to sixteenth-century anatomy.
This article examines the editions of Galen’s De ossibus ad tirones (On Bones for Beginners) in L... more This article examines the editions of Galen’s De ossibus ad tirones (On Bones for Beginners) in Latin, Greek, and French printed in the sixteenth century – a period that saw more than two-dozen printings of the book. After a brief survey of the contents of the book, a description of the various editions and translations produced is given. The illustrations included in the editions up through the middle of the century are then described, and finally the role the book played in a dispute between Andreas Vesalius and his former teacher, Jacobus Sylvius, is examined, including an edition of De ossibus written by the Spanish physician, Luis Collado.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, 2017
The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on e... more The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on elevating the status of surgery had been accompanied by a certain distancing of surgery from manual operations, but the medical humanism of the sixteenth century embraced manual skills as an important part of medicine, most noticeably in the case of anatomy. In the first part of this paper I use accounts of the treatment of ulcers as a way of exploring these changes in perceptions. Ulcers were a well-known surgical ailment in medieval medicine, but in the sixteenth century they were also associated with the Great Pox. This made their treatment an important test case for establishing the scope of surgery and ultimately led Gabriele Falloppio to claim that ulcers from the Pox were not a part of surgery at all. In the second half of the paper, I look at sixteenth-century descriptions of surgery found in works on surgery and anatomy and note how important the idea of the efficacy of surgical ...
The Body of Evidence Corpses and Proofs in Early Modern European Medicine, Editor: Francesco Paolo de Ceglia, 2020
By the dawn of the sixteenth century, the testimony of medical experts in legal settings as to th... more By the dawn of the sixteenth century, the testimony of medical experts in legal settings as to the cause of death based on the examination of the corpse was well-established, especially in Italian cities closely allied with medical schools such as Venice and Bologna. The firsthand accounts of the process employed by these medical experts in making their evaluations as found in the legal records of the day were relatively terse, but medical and anatomical writings around the same time offer more detail about exactly how various parts of the body were examined in a wide variety of contexts. These medical accounts, which became more and more detailed as the century progressed, often contained references to efforts to determine the cause of death in cases similar to those found in legal documents, and by examining the two a fairly accurate picture of the techniques and methods used in both cases can be developed. In this paper, I trace the changing nature of dissection practices as developed in anatomical and medical works and relate them to forensic cases.
Towards the Authority of Vesalius: Studies on Medicine and the Human Body from Antiquity to the Renaissance and beyond, 2018
Abstract: In the surviving notes taken during the public dissections performed by Andreas Vesaliu... more Abstract: In the surviving notes taken during the public dissections performed by Andreas Vesalius for the benefit of medical students in 1537 at Padua and 1540 at Bologna are sketches and drawings made by the note takers. These along with the comments about the illustrations made and displayed by Vesalius are a rich source of information about the role of representations of the body which fall outside the printed illustrations found in the Fabrica that occupy the attention of so many historical studies. Sketches made during an actual dissection lead to specific questions; why does a dissector need a diagram when he has a body at hand? Why would the note taker sketch some figures as copies of what Vesalius drew, but then copy others from printed works and make others without reference to any drawings made by Vesalius? What, in short, is the purpose of illustrations in a dissection?
In Towards the Authority of Vesalius. Representations of the Human Body in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Lectio, 2015.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2017
The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on e... more The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on elevating the status of surgery had been accompanied by a certain distancing of surgery from manual operations, but the medical humanism of the sixteenth century embraced manual skills as an important part of medicine, most noticeably in the case of anatomy. In the first part of this paper I use accounts of the treatment of ulcers as a way of exploring these changes in perceptions. Ulcers were a well-known surgical ailment in medieval medicine, but in the sixteenth century they were also associated with the Great Pox. This made their treatment an important test case for establishing the scope of surgery and ultimately led Gabriele Falloppio to claim that ulcers from the Pox were not a part of surgery at all. In the second half of the paper, I look at sixteenth-century descriptions of surgery found in works on surgery and anatomy and note how important the idea of the efficacy of surgical treatment was in them. I conclude by suggesting that the concern with efficacy was itself another aspect of the arrival of the Pox.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2016
In this paper I examine the procedures involved in conducting public dissection demonstrations i... more In this paper I examine the procedures involved in conducting public dissection demonstrations in the early sixteenth century by Andreas Vesalius. I point out that Vesalius employed certain innovations in his dissections to overcome well-known limitations of public anatomical demonstrations noted by his predecessors, and these innovations were the use of animal as well as human dissection subjects, the preparation and display of an articulated skeleton and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that by understanding these three procedures in terms of meeting the demands of a public demonstration we may reinterpret some issues in the early sixteenth century
In this article I examine the origins and progression of the practice of vivisection in roughly t... more In this article I examine the origins and progression of the practice of vivisection in roughly the first half of the sixteenth century, paying particular attention to the types of vivisection procedures performed, the classical sources for those procedures and the changing nature of the concerns motivating the anatomists who performed them. My goal is to reexamine a procedure typically treated as something revived by Vesalius from classical sources as a precursor to early modern discoveries by placing the practice of vivisection in its sixteenth-century context. There were a variety of reasons for employing vivisection in the sixteenth century, including exploring the differences between living and dead bodies, considering how parts of the body worked, and advocating the entirely new idea of the pulmonary transit. By exploring the discussions of Berengario, Niccolò Massa, Vesalius, Colombo and Juan Valverde I try to elaborate on these various reasons and their origins.
This volume collects essays dealing with the history of medicine in early modern Europe, and rang... more This volume collects essays dealing with the history of medicine in early modern Europe, and ranging from experiments and practices to the role of erudition in court-medicine, from the study of tarantism and plagues to the uses of drugs, from the collaborations and dissemination of medical knowledge to the epistemological classification of diseases. The essays aim to reveal the boundless investigation in medical knowledge, ultimately blurring the line of diverse fields, and focus on the extension of medicine as a scientia. Besides the investigation of specific figures and several case studies of early modern medicine, the volume opens with an exploration of the Medical School of Padua and also deals with some important locations that shape the science of medicine, such as anatomical theatres, botanical gardens, and museums.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, Jan 2, 2015
In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissection... more In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissections in the early sixteenth century. I point out that in order to overcome the limitations of public anatomical demonstration noted by his predecessors, Vesalius employed several innovative strategies, including the use of animals as dissection subjects, the preparation and display of articulated skeletons, and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that the examination of these three strategies for resolving the challenges of public anatomical demonstration helps us to reinterpret Vesalius's contributions to sixteenth-century anatomy.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, Jan 2, 2015
In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissection... more In this paper, I examine the procedures used by Andreas Vesalius for conducting public dissections in the early sixteenth century. I point out that in order to overcome the limitations of public anatomical demonstration noted by his predecessors, Vesalius employed several innovative strategies, including the use of animals as dissection subjects, the preparation and display of articulated skeletons, and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that the examination of these three strategies for resolving the challenges of public anatomical demonstration helps us to reinterpret Vesalius's contributions to sixteenth-century anatomy.
This article examines the editions of Galen’s De ossibus ad tirones (On Bones for Beginners) in L... more This article examines the editions of Galen’s De ossibus ad tirones (On Bones for Beginners) in Latin, Greek, and French printed in the sixteenth century – a period that saw more than two-dozen printings of the book. After a brief survey of the contents of the book, a description of the various editions and translations produced is given. The illustrations included in the editions up through the middle of the century are then described, and finally the role the book played in a dispute between Andreas Vesalius and his former teacher, Jacobus Sylvius, is examined, including an edition of De ossibus written by the Spanish physician, Luis Collado.
Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences, 2017
The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on e... more The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on elevating the status of surgery had been accompanied by a certain distancing of surgery from manual operations, but the medical humanism of the sixteenth century embraced manual skills as an important part of medicine, most noticeably in the case of anatomy. In the first part of this paper I use accounts of the treatment of ulcers as a way of exploring these changes in perceptions. Ulcers were a well-known surgical ailment in medieval medicine, but in the sixteenth century they were also associated with the Great Pox. This made their treatment an important test case for establishing the scope of surgery and ultimately led Gabriele Falloppio to claim that ulcers from the Pox were not a part of surgery at all. In the second half of the paper, I look at sixteenth-century descriptions of surgery found in works on surgery and anatomy and note how important the idea of the efficacy of surgical ...
The Body of Evidence Corpses and Proofs in Early Modern European Medicine, Editor: Francesco Paolo de Ceglia, 2020
By the dawn of the sixteenth century, the testimony of medical experts in legal settings as to th... more By the dawn of the sixteenth century, the testimony of medical experts in legal settings as to the cause of death based on the examination of the corpse was well-established, especially in Italian cities closely allied with medical schools such as Venice and Bologna. The firsthand accounts of the process employed by these medical experts in making their evaluations as found in the legal records of the day were relatively terse, but medical and anatomical writings around the same time offer more detail about exactly how various parts of the body were examined in a wide variety of contexts. These medical accounts, which became more and more detailed as the century progressed, often contained references to efforts to determine the cause of death in cases similar to those found in legal documents, and by examining the two a fairly accurate picture of the techniques and methods used in both cases can be developed. In this paper, I trace the changing nature of dissection practices as developed in anatomical and medical works and relate them to forensic cases.
Towards the Authority of Vesalius: Studies on Medicine and the Human Body from Antiquity to the Renaissance and beyond, 2018
Abstract: In the surviving notes taken during the public dissections performed by Andreas Vesaliu... more Abstract: In the surviving notes taken during the public dissections performed by Andreas Vesalius for the benefit of medical students in 1537 at Padua and 1540 at Bologna are sketches and drawings made by the note takers. These along with the comments about the illustrations made and displayed by Vesalius are a rich source of information about the role of representations of the body which fall outside the printed illustrations found in the Fabrica that occupy the attention of so many historical studies. Sketches made during an actual dissection lead to specific questions; why does a dissector need a diagram when he has a body at hand? Why would the note taker sketch some figures as copies of what Vesalius drew, but then copy others from printed works and make others without reference to any drawings made by Vesalius? What, in short, is the purpose of illustrations in a dissection?
In Towards the Authority of Vesalius. Representations of the Human Body in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Lectio, 2015.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2017
The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on e... more The sixteenth century saw a shift in perceptions of the scope of surgery. The medieval focus on elevating the status of surgery had been accompanied by a certain distancing of surgery from manual operations, but the medical humanism of the sixteenth century embraced manual skills as an important part of medicine, most noticeably in the case of anatomy. In the first part of this paper I use accounts of the treatment of ulcers as a way of exploring these changes in perceptions. Ulcers were a well-known surgical ailment in medieval medicine, but in the sixteenth century they were also associated with the Great Pox. This made their treatment an important test case for establishing the scope of surgery and ultimately led Gabriele Falloppio to claim that ulcers from the Pox were not a part of surgery at all. In the second half of the paper, I look at sixteenth-century descriptions of surgery found in works on surgery and anatomy and note how important the idea of the efficacy of surgical treatment was in them. I conclude by suggesting that the concern with efficacy was itself another aspect of the arrival of the Pox.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2016
In this paper I examine the procedures involved in conducting public dissection demonstrations i... more In this paper I examine the procedures involved in conducting public dissection demonstrations in the early sixteenth century by Andreas Vesalius. I point out that Vesalius employed certain innovations in his dissections to overcome well-known limitations of public anatomical demonstrations noted by his predecessors, and these innovations were the use of animal as well as human dissection subjects, the preparation and display of an articulated skeleton and the use of printed and hand-drawn illustrations. I suggest that by understanding these three procedures in terms of meeting the demands of a public demonstration we may reinterpret some issues in the early sixteenth century
In this article I examine the origins and progression of the practice of vivisection in roughly t... more In this article I examine the origins and progression of the practice of vivisection in roughly the first half of the sixteenth century, paying particular attention to the types of vivisection procedures performed, the classical sources for those procedures and the changing nature of the concerns motivating the anatomists who performed them. My goal is to reexamine a procedure typically treated as something revived by Vesalius from classical sources as a precursor to early modern discoveries by placing the practice of vivisection in its sixteenth-century context. There were a variety of reasons for employing vivisection in the sixteenth century, including exploring the differences between living and dead bodies, considering how parts of the body worked, and advocating the entirely new idea of the pulmonary transit. By exploring the discussions of Berengario, Niccolò Massa, Vesalius, Colombo and Juan Valverde I try to elaborate on these various reasons and their origins.
Early modern hands touched to heal, to know and to learn. Monarchs stroked sores to cure scrofula... more Early modern hands touched to heal, to know and to learn. Monarchs stroked sores to cure scrofula, medical students touched patients and corpses as part of their training, and anatomists relied on textures and tactual sensations to identify the nature and function of bodily parts. This panel explores a range of perspectives on touching and being touched in early modern science and medicine. In recent years, touch has received considerable attention in a range of academic disciplines that draw on traditional historical narratives. Our aim is to reassess and enrich these accounts by exploring manual practices, reports of tactile experiences and discussions of what touch reveals and how it works in science and medicine. We consider the epistemic roles of touch in anatomy, medicine and natural philosophy, the use of touch in teaching, the power of curative touch, and how hands and touch were invoked to distinguish between humans, animals and plants. Our sources range from the early sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries, but our timeframe is extended as we trace how early modern authors responded to a variety of classical sources. Questions about who has the capacity to feel and affect through touch are a common theme. Early modern views on these matters are divided along confessional and political lines, and we find different perspectives in different sources. This range of contemporary understanding, like our range of scholarly approaches to the subject, reflects the scope and power of touch in early modern science and medicine.
Because of focused and sustained attention to it by a newspaper at the time, the outbreak of smal... more Because of focused and sustained attention to it by a newspaper at the time, the outbreak of smallpox in Terre Haute, IN in the winter of 1902/03 provides us with a unique glimpse into the way the disease affected the people of the City and how City officials reacted.
In the winter of 1902-03, cases of smallpox spread through the city of Terre Haute, Indiana. A lo... more In the winter of 1902-03, cases of smallpox spread through the city of Terre Haute, Indiana. A local Republican newspaper, the Terre Haute Daily Tribune, blasted Democratic city leaders for their handling of the crisis, running columns on the front page.
Book Review: Rose Marie San Juan, Violence and the Genesis of the Anatomical Image, Social Histor... more Book Review: Rose Marie San Juan, Violence and the Genesis of the Anatomical Image, Social History of Medicine, 2023;
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Science, 2018
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, jry005, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jry... more Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, jry005, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jry005 Published: 24 February 2018
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In Towards the Authority of Vesalius. Representations of the Human Body in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Lectio, 2015.
In Towards the Authority of Vesalius. Representations of the Human Body in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Lectio, 2015.
Published: 24 February 2018