Science in Culture: a Miracle in Sight

BOOKS & ARTS NATURE|Vol 443|21 September 2006 attempts to address larger themes, however, men — “doctors were determined no scientific Perspective (Harvard University Press, 1986). things do not always go so well. Frequently he discovery would alter their traditional thera- His global characterization of the state of medi- points to missed opportunities to exploit the pies of bleeding, purging, and vomiting” — are cal history strikes me as woefully wide of the implications of technical advances and key crude and unsatisfying. He claims that medical mark — the subtle relationship between sci- discoveries. He cites as examples the long hia- historians have glorified the link between the ence and medicine requires a far deeper under- tus between the discovery of bacteria and the laboratory and advances in basic science but standing than anything on offer here. And his link to infectious disease, and the shorter but overlooked the fact that these discoveries led to assertion that the history of modern medicine still significant gap between the first observa- no immediate therapeutic advance. But this is can be reduced to a paean to scientific progress tions of the antibacterial effects of Penicillium simply false, as would be made clear by a quick is a recipe for bad scholarship, of which there is moulds in the 1870s and Florey’s development perusal of such sources as William Bynum’s already far too much in the world. ■ of a therapy that worked in the 1940s. Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nine- Andrew Scull is in the Department of Sociology, But Wootton’s attempts to blame these fail- teenth Century (Cambridge University Press, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman ures on the blinkered self-interest of medical 1994) or John Harley Warner’s The Therapeutic Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0533, USA. A miracle in sight Adam Elsheimer painted the starry heavens in 1609. Martin Kemp The lynx is renowned for its sharp sight. So when the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome bound its inaugural documents into a single volume in 1603, the young German artist Adam Elsheimer provided a painted image of a lynx as its frontispiece. Founded by the ALTE PINAKOTHEK, MUNICH PINAKOTHEK, ALTE Roman nobleman Federico Cesi, the new academy was dedicated to the sciences of Earth and the heavens, and provided a vital forum for Galileo and a cluster of leading intellectuals who were reforming the way that science was conducted. Elsheimer had travelled a long way in a short time, both geographically and intellectually. The son of a tailor in Frankfurt, he travelled via Venice to Rome, where he settled by 1600. He was quickly cultivated by a circle of avant-garde thinkers and artists, including the Flight into Egypt back on the left (and partly obscured here), Rubens brothers, Peter Paul (shown here), two peasants tend a blazing fire that shoots (the painter) and Philipp characteristically fusillades of sparks high into the night air. (a humanist scholar). The painted on copper. The scene was painted in 1609, a year former wrote emotionally on Within its small before Galileo published his telescopic Elsheimer’s early death in 1610 that compass of just 31 observations. Given the circles in which “he had no equal in small figures, in 41 cm, Elsheimer frames Elsheimer moved, it is highly likely that he landscapes, and in many other subjects”. a cosmos of infinite extent, in was aware of the ferment arising from the All Elsheimer’s paintings are indeed which heavenly and terrestrial lights sparkle observations of the heavens occasioned by small. They are of extraordinary visual in an astonishing display of observation. the arrival of telescopes in Rome. intensity and demand unrelenting scrutiny A band of light, the Milky Way, extends Yet Elsheimer was painting a narrative, a if they are to disclose their secrets. For diagonally from the upper left corner. On moving rendering of a holy story. He was not this reason, each visitor to the definitive close inspection it is not a blur of white simply illustrating scientific observations. His exhibition of his paintings at the Edinburgh pigment but is composed from countless starry sky is an artful assemblage, using the Art Festival, which closed earlier this month, tiny points of varied size (see inset). It is new observations in the service of meaning. was supplied with a magnifying glass. The hard to believe that Elsheimer did not use a The Milky Way was known as ‘Jacob’s Street’ paintings can now be seen at Dulwich magnifying device; we certainly need one. in the Middle Ages — it crossed from the Picture Gallery in London until 3 December. Other heavenly bodies are recognizable ladder to heaven in Jacob’s dream. Against The science of the Accademia dei Lincei too. The Great Bear is visible in the upper the lonely darkness threatening the three was characterized by intense attention to right. The Moon, deliciously reflected in fugitives, the divine and immutable order of visual phenomena. Within a few years of the lake, is painted not in the normal the bright heavenly bodies reassures us that its founding, the eye was to be amplified uniform manner but with a full array of Christ’s destiny will be fulfilled. Elsheimer by both the telescope and the microscope. surface features. brilliantly saw how new ways of seeing can Elsheimer’s paintings declare that he was Against this display of cosmic light is set be married to old revelations. deeply immersed in this culture of taking the torch of Joseph, softly illuminating the Martin Kemp is professor of the history sight as far as it would go. faces of mother and child as they travel on of art at the University of Oxford, Most notable in this respect is his their ass to safe haven in Egypt. Further Oxford OX1 1PT, UK. SCIENCE IN CULTURE IN SCIENCE 276 ©2006 Nature PublishingGroup.

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