• Theory, Practice, and Nature In-between. Antonio Vallisneri’s Primi Itineris Specimen

    Author(s):
    Francesco Luzzini (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Group(s):
    Digital Humanists, Environmental Humanities, GeoHumanities, Historiography, Science Studies and the History of Science
    Subject(s):
    Science, History, Digital humanities, Natural history, Criticism, Textual, Philology, Sixteenth century, Seventeenth century, Medicine
    Item Type:
    Book
    Tag(s):
    Ecdotics, Natural Philosophy, History of science, Anthropocene, Textual criticism, Early Modern, History of medicine
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6QK28
    Abstract:
    In the summer of 1704, Antonio Vallisneri (1661–1730), the preeminent Italian physician and natural philosopher of his time, traveled with a “daring soul” and “trembling feet” across the “silent horrors” of the northern Apennines: down the hills south of Reggio Emilia to northern Tuscany and the western edge of his native land, the Province of Garfagnana. He then wrote a report of this adventure, the Primi Itineris per Montes Specimen Physico-Medicum (“Physico-medical example of a first journey through the mountains), and sent it to the Royal Society of London, hoping for its publication in Philosophical Transactions. Unfortunately this did not happen and the manuscript disappeared from sight. The original draft, however, survived in the State Archive of the Italian city of Reggio Emilia where it was found in 2009. With its exceptional array of geological, medical, geographical, technical, ethnographic, and historical data, the Primi Itineris Specimen is one of the earliest and most well-documented attempts to define a systematic approach to field research. Its frantically reworked pages and anxious marginal notes offer a new and precious opportunity to understand why and how experimental data and theories in the early modern period interacted and shaped the development of many crucial debates. These include the discovering of deep-time, the comprehension of geological phenomena (such as the hydrologic cycle and the origin of mountains and fossils), the perception of man’s place in nature, the constant search for new therapeutics, the tormented and charming relation between science and religion.
    Notes:
    An Edition Open Access/Edition Open Sources book. Here is the link to the official webpage: http://www.edition-open-sources.org/sources/9/index.html
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book     Show details
    Publisher:
    Edition Open Access - Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
    ISBN:
    9783945561324
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
    Share this:

    Downloads

    Item Name: pdf eos9-theory-practice-and-nature-in-between.pdf
      Download View in browser
    Activity: Downloads: 512

    Back to Deposits