DOCSLIB.ORG

HPS Part II Students This Year

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
HPS Part II Students This Year Contents THE DEPARTMENT Introduction................................................................................................................... 2 Staff and Affiliates........................................................................................................ 3 Visitors and Students..................................................................................................... 4 Comings and Goings ..................................................................................................... 5 Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................................................ 6 Prizes, Projects and Honours......................................................................................... 7 Seminars and Special Lectures...................................................................................... 8 STUDENTS Student Statistics......................................................................................................... 10 Part II Dissertation Titles ............................................................................................ 11 Part II Primary Sources Essay Titles........................................................................... 12 MPhil Essay and Dissertation Titles ........................................................................... 14 PhD Theses.................................................................................................................. 17 Transferable Skills....................................................................................................... 19 THE LIBRARY Annual Report of the Whipple Library....................................................................... 21 THE MUSEUM Annual Report of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science ............................ 23 INDIVIDUALS Individual Reports of the Members of the Department............................................... 29 SEMINAR PROGRAMMES 2000-01 Michaelmas Term 2000............................................................................................... 65 Lent Term 2001........................................................................................................... 71 Easter Term 2001 ........................................................................................................ 77 The Department Introduction The academical year 2000-2001 was another bumper year for the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Student and staff numbers have grown steadily and the Department is now bigger than ever (and desperate for additional space). We had record numbers of HPS Part II students this year. 70 students applied for 35 places and in the end 41 students were admitted to the course. The year represented a culmination of years of study for many of the Department’s PhD students with a record number of 13 PhD degrees being awarded during the course of the year. However, 14 new PhD students will be starting in 2001-2002, so PhD numbers should remain constant! The 2001 Research Assessment Exercise concentrated our thoughts for much of the early part of the year. A submission was made at the end of March 2001 and results should be available in December 2001. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our submission. If you would like to have a look at what was sent in for assessment, a printout is available in the Office. Congratulations to John Forrester, who was given a Personal Professorship from 1 October 2000, and also to Jim Secord and Martin Kusch, who were given Personal Readerships from October 2000. Teaching Officer numbers continue to grow: Lauren Kassell took up a new post as University Assistant Lecturer in History of Medicine in October 2000; the Department was lucky enough to receive a new lectureship in Bioethics (the appointment to start in October 2002); Nick Hopwood and Martin Kusch were successful in obtaining research leave fellowships starting in October 2001 and Sarah Hodges and David Corfield were appointed as their temporary replacements. In 2000-2001 a IB external examiner was appointed for the first time: our thanks to Professor David Edgerton for taking the time to chart this new territory and for doing a wonderful job. Great things have happened in the Whipple Museum this year. As part of the government funded collections access project, new cases have been installed in the former teaching gallery, which is now known as ‘discover’. The cases are stunning and congratulations to the museum team for putting in hours of dedicated work that have made such a difference. We are all looking forward to the completion of the final phase of the project, which will result in a new gallery being made of the museum store – the result being ultimate open access storage. Next time you are in the Department in the afternoon with a few minutes to spare make sure you visit ‘discover’. On a less grand note, we are pleased that the HPS kitchen has been completely refurbished at last and is very bright and sunny, with yellow tiles and a dishwasher. Thanks to Tamara for masterminding this project, alongside everything else. If you are a regular user of GITS, the Graduate IT Suite, you will notice a big difference next term as we have replaced all the old Macintosh computers with fast, robust G4s – thanks Mark! Finally, our thanks to ALL members of the Department, whose continued effort makes HPS such a fun, lively and stimulating place to be. 2 Staff and Affiliates 2000-01 Administrative Staff Affiliated Lecturers Prof Geoffrey Lloyd Ms Angela Culver Dr S de Chadarevian Mr Scott Mandelbrote Ms Tamara Hug Dr Patricia Fara Prof Stephen Mason Ms Dawn Moutrey Dr M Frasca-Spada Dr Joan Mason Mr David Thompson Dr Richard Jennings Dr James Moore Dr Sachiko Kusukawa Dr Constantine Pagonis Computing Staff Dr Sandu Popescu Mr Steve Ison Research Fellows Dr Dorothy Porter Mrs Mel Leggatt Dr Andrew Cunningham Dr Matthew Ratcliffe Mr Mark Rogers Dr Mark Hogarth Prof Martin Rudwick Dr Harmke Kamminga Prof Colin A. Russell Cleaning Staff Dr Christine Salazar Mr Brian Rowley College Fellows Dr Max Satchell Mrs Tania Leeds Dr Anjan Chakravartty Ms Anne Secord Ms Anandi Hattiangadi Dr Otto Sibum Library Staff Dr Tim Lewens Dr Ilina Singh Ms Joanna Ball Dr Neil Manson Dr William Smeaton Mrs Sonia Hollins Dr Adam Mosley Dr Richard Smith Mr John Huggett Ms Sophie Page Dr Emma Spary Mrs Claire Jordan Ms Katinka Ridderbos Prof Paul Teller Ms Sam Weston Smith Mr Greg Radick Dr Jon Topham Dr Jill Whitelock Dr Richard Serjeantson Prof Gerard Turner Mr Stephen Snobelen Dr Andrew Wear Museum Staff Dr Karin Tybjerg Dr Paul White Ms Corrina Bower Dr Frances Willmoth Mrs Elizabeth Hart Affiliated Scholars Prof Elie Zahar Mr Boris Jardine Dr Robert Anderson Mr Dale Johnston Dr Debbie Banham Supervisors Ms Toni Parker Dr Emm Barnes Mr Janke Dittmer Ms Catriona West Dr Andrew Barry Ms Gill Hudson Dr German Berrios Dr Chris Lewis Teaching Officers Prof Andrew Bowie Dr Patrick Wallis Prof John Forrester Dr Michael Bravo Dr Nick Hopwood Dr Nader El-Bizri Prof Nick Jardine Dr Janet Browne Dr Lauren Kassell Dr Jeremy Butterfield Dr Martin Kusch Dr David Chart Prof Peter Lipton Dr Sophia Connell Dr Simon Schaffer Dr Harry Collins Dr Jim Secord Dr David Dewhirst Dr Liba Taub Dr Thomas Dixon Dr Matthew Donald Emeritus Staff Dr Aileen Fyfe Dr Roger French Dr Jeremy Gray Prof Mary Hesse Dr Ole Grell Prof Michael Redhead Dr John Henderson Mr Peter Jones Associate Lecturer Dr Lisbet Koerner Dr Deborah Thom 3 Visitors and Students 2000-01 Visiting Scholars Christopher Haley Fiona Coutinho Dr Jon Arrizabalaga Anandi Hattiangadi Armand David Dr Davida Charney Rina Knoeff Tania Elias Dr Dan Christensen Jeff Kochan Simon Fisherly Dr Herman de Regt Gerald Kutcher Sam Hart Dr Peter Farago Timothy Lewens Sharon Hart Dr Alvaro Giron Ilaria Lo Tufo Richard Humes Prof Paul E Griffith Helen Macdonald Elizabeth Jones Dr Anna Guagnini Anna-Katherina Mayer Nick Kennedy Dr Sarah Jansen Adam Mosley Emer Larkin Crone Dr Maija Kallinen Greg Radick Vicki Leverett Dr Pawel Kawalec Mike Rich Graeme Ludlow Dr Javier Moscoso Eugenia Roldàn-Vera Tom Lumbers Dr Mariko Ogawa Sujit Sivasundaram Anthony Molyneux Dr Philip Rehbock Stephen Snobelen Hannah Oag Dr Dmitri Saprykin John Tresch David Owen Dr B Subbarayappa Joerg Tuske Tom Phillips Prof Paul Teller Karin Tybjerg Ben Please Dr Anke to Heesen Wen-Ji Wang Alexandra Pledge Sarah Punshon Visiting Students MPhil Students Benet Reid Peter Asaro Michael Bresalier Natalie Ryan Hjalmar Fors Vicky Carroll Arif Saad Karen Haugland Ben Cockayne James Southwood Lydia Jaeger Carolyn Day Aideen Silke Jonas Larsson Andreas Demetriades Alison Spark Javier Lezaun Christy Ferguson Clare Sproston Havard Nilsen Axel Gelfert Mary Summers Donald Opitz Rebecca McLeod Rachael Tait Steve Ruskin Michael Michael Oliver Thomson Paul Miller Mark Tregear PhD Students Ayesha Nathoo Thomas Walker Charlotte Bigg Arash Pessian Karen Wood Anjan Chakravartty Greta Petersen Lucy Yates Emir Chen Aimie Purser Rachel Cooper Sadiah Qureshi MVST Part II Students Lucia Dacome Rob Ralley Iona Coltart Katrina Dean Torben Rees Mark Swindells Talal Debs Tamas Demeter NST Part II Students Kemal de Soysa Lucy Algeo Jennifer Downes Nicholas Alton Jim Endersby Emma Bain Kate Fletcher Parvinder Bassi Gregory Fried Oliver Boney Susan Gamble Chris Branson Catherina Gere Iain Carroll 4 Comings and Goings After working for more than two years as the Whipple Librarian, Joanna Ball left us in January 2001 to take up the post of Sub-Librarian at
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The New Astral Medicine Hiro Hirai Introduction
    CHAPTER EIGHT THE NEW ASTRAL MEDICINE Hiro Hirai Introduction The impact of astrology on medical theories and practice in the Renais- sance still remains to be fully explored. Besides the general influences of celestial bodies on sublunary and terrestrial beings, physicians were traditionally taught to take astrology into account in questions such as: 1) conception or nativity; 2) crises of health or illness, known as “criti- cal days”; and 3) medication. The link between medicine and astrology became especially firm after the work of Pietro d’Abano (1257–ca. 1315).1 In the Renaissance, two major factors contributed to the modifica- tion of this traditional relationship between medicine and astrology. One is the severe criticism of judicial astrology, advanced by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) in his posthumous work, entitled Disputa- tions against Judicial Astrology (Disputationes adversus astrologiam divina- tricem) (Bologna, 1496). Many of his contemporaries (followed by modern historians) generally considered that Pico rejected the divinatory aspects of astrology and accepted only its physical dimensions, which can be labeled as “natural astrology.” According to this interpretation, the influ- ences of the celestial region were exerted only by physical means: motion, light and heat.2 Pico thus criticized the astrological aspects of the doctrine 1 See Nancy G. Siraisi, Medieval and Early Renaissance Medicine: An Introduction to Knowledge and Practice (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990). Cf. also Andrew Wear, “Galen in the Renaissance,” in Galen: Problems and Prospects, ed. Vivian Nutton (London: The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1981), pp. 229–267, esp. 245–250; Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke, Astrologisch-magische Theorie und Praxis in der Heilkunde der frühen Neuzeit (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1985); Roger French, “Astrology in Medical Prac- tice,” in Practical Medicine from Salerno to the Black Death, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • 18 Frye and Robert Burton
    215 18 Frye and Robert Burton Not previously published. From my point of view the greatest book ever written at Oxford is the Anatomy of Melancholy. (Bible, 132) I In responding to a question by David Cayley about the use of the word ―anatomy,‖ Frye reveals the very high estimate he has of Robert Burton‘s The Anatomy of Melancholy: The word anatomy in Shakespeare‘s day and a little later meant a dissection for a synthetic overview. One of my favorite books in English literature—there are times when it is actually my favorite—is Burton‘s Anatomy of Melancholy. Of course, there were four humors then, but for Burton there was only the one, melancholy. That was the source of all mental and physical diseases in the world. So he writes an enormous survey of human life. It ranks with Chaucer and Dickens, except the characters are books rather than people. It was both an analysis of the causes and cures and treatment of melancholy and a kind of synthetic overview of human nature before it gets melancholy. On a much smaller scale there was Lyly‘s Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, which has given us the word euphuism, meaning that if you‘re too bright and don‘t know enough you can get into trouble. That use of the term anatomy was one that I thought exactly fitted what I was doing.‖ (Interviews, 936–7)1 The title Anatomy of Criticism is obviously indebted to Burton, but the title was assigned to the book late in the publication process.
    [Show full text]
  • Download: Brill.Com/Brill-Typeface
    The Body of Evidence Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy and Science Editors C.H. Lüthy (Radboud University) P.J.J.M. Bakker (Radboud University) Editorial Consultants Joel Biard (University of Tours) Simo Knuuttila (University of Helsinki) Jürgen Renn (Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science) Theo Verbeek (University of Utrecht) volume 30 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/memps The Body of Evidence Corpses and Proofs in Early Modern European Medicine Edited by Francesco Paolo de Ceglia LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Vesalius dissecting a body in secret. Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2019050958 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 2468-6808 ISBN 978-90-04-28481-4 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-28482-1 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • Tensions in Renaissance Cities Lavish Courts and Towering
    Tensions in Renaissance Cities Lavish courts and towering cathedrals, entrancing polyphony and artistic masterpieces—our romantic fascination with the cultural glories of the Renaissance often eclipses one truth, recorded by astute observers of the age like Machiavelli, that the era of Michelangelo and Shakespeare was, in many ways, darker than the “Dark Ages” which it named. The crisis had one unexpected cause: progress. In the centuries after the Black Death, regenerating urban centers, strengthened by financial and commercial innovations, linked together to form an increasingly interconnected society. Soon English wool was no longer finished at home, but exported to be woven and dyed in Italy, before shipping out across trade networks which stretched from the Middle East deep into the New World. As Europe’s economic bloodstream strengthened, the same increase in trade and travel which let architects build with exotic stones and scholars recover lost Greek manuscripts also transmitted diseases with unprecedented speed and ferocity, while larger, denser cities were richer breeding grounds for violence and contagions. As wealth and power flowed in, richer states could muster larger armies, innovative weaponry could shed blood on unprecedented scales, and ambitious rising families could hire mercenary forces larger than frail governments could withstand. This exhibit lays out a geography of tensions which characterized Renaissance cities. In a world still plagued by war and banditry, urban growth often meant density rather than sprawl, as swelling populations jockeyed for space within the circumferences of city walls. Crowded and wealthy cities became powder kegs, where old tensions— between men and women, citizens and visitors, Jews and Christians, religious and secular authorities—channeled the energies of new and increasing factional and economic rivalries.
    [Show full text]
  • Tokens of the Future: Comets, Astrology and Politics in Early Modern Portugal
    Tokens of the future: comets, astrology and politics in early modern Portugal Luís Miguel Carolino *; Carlos Ziller Camenietzki** This paper examines a set of treatises and observational reports on comets written by Por­ tuguese astrologers/astronomers in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Focusing on the links between natural philosophy, astrology and politics, it analyses the change in comet-based astrological predictions in Portugal. In the late sixteenth century, the appea­ rance of comets gave rise to numerous astrological texts predicting a transcendental role for the Portuguese monarchy under the Bragan~ dynasty. Nevertheless, as the seventeenth cen­ tury progressed, astrological causality gradually disappeared from comet treatises. Incre­ asingly. the appearance of comets in skies afforded an opportunity to discuss only the phy­ sical nature and effects of comets. not judicial astrological forecasts. In this paper, we argue that the process of rationalising and centralising the political system together with major changes concerning conceptions of nature and new 'scientific' methods partially explain this change in astrological beliefs. Neste artigo analisa-se um conjunto de publicQ,fiJes e registos manuscritos de obserlJar;6es de cometas escrito por astrólogos / astrónomos portugueses no final do século XVI e durante o século XVII. Enfatizando as relar;oes entre filosofia natural, astrologia e política, este arti­ go propoe uma análise sobre a elJolur;iio dos prognósticos astrológicos em Portugal com base na literatura cometária. Em finais do século XVI, o aparecimento de cometas estalJa na ori­ gem de um numeroso conjunto de textos astrológicos prognosticando um papel transcen­ dental para a monarquia portuguesa sob a dinastia de Braga11fa.
    [Show full text]
  • RESEARCH at the University of Cyprus
    RESEARCH at the University of Cyprus FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Research Profile and Publica!ons 2008-2010 University House ”Anastasios G. Leventis” 1 University Avenue P.O.Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus Tel.: (+357) 22894000 E-mail: [email protected] This edition was produced by the Publications Office, International Relations and Promotion Sector of the Research and International Relations Service of the University of Cyprus under the supervision of the University’s Research Committee and the Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs, Professor Athanasios Gagatsis who chairs the Committee. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Gregory Makrides Director of Research and International Relation Service GENERAL EDITOR Elena Avgoustidou-Kyriacou Senior University Officer, International Relations and Promotion Sector Research and International Relations Service COORDINATING EDITOR Corinna Kiliari University Officer, Publications Office, International Relations and Promotion Sector Research and International Relations Service DESIGN / LAYOUT Popi Palma Constantinou Publications Office, International Relations and Promotion Sector Research and International Relations Service ISSN 1450-0574 Copyright©2012 University of Cyprus RESEARCH PROFILE AND PUBLICATIONS 2008-2010 FACULTY OF HUMANITIES CONTENTS Introduction 5 Message from the Dean 7 Department of English Studies 9 Department of French Studies and Modern Languages 33 Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies 51 Appendices 68 Doctoral Titles Awarded 69 Abbreviations 70 Academic Staff Index 71 4 INTRODUCTION This publication lists the research activity of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Cyprus undertaken in the years 2008-2010. This book presents information on each member of the Faculty’s academic staff who is directly or indirectly related to research, such as membership in professional societies, international organisations or editorial boards, and participation in research programmes.
    [Show full text]
  • Tycho the Apocalyptic: History, Prophecy and the Meaning of Natural Phenomena
    Tycho the Apocalyptic: History, Prophecy and the Meaning of Natural Phenomena Håkansson, Håkan Published in: Science in Contact at the Beginning of the Scientific Revolution 2004 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Håkansson, H. (2004). Tycho the Apocalyptic: History, Prophecy and the Meaning of Natural Phenomena. In J. Zamrzlová (Ed.), Science in Contact at the Beginning of the Scientific Revolution (pp. 211-236). National Technical Museum, Prag. Total number of authors: 1 General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 TYCHO THE APOCALYPTIC: HISTORY, PROPHECY AND THE MEANING OF NATURAL PHENOMENA1 Hakan Hakansson To most of the people who witnessed the spectacle, it seemed as if the laws of creation had suddenly been put out of joint, as if the order of things had begun to crumble and the firmament was quaking and threatening to fall apart.
    [Show full text]
  • Giordano Bruno
    OFFPRIIIITFROM Giordano Bruno Philosopherof the Renaissance Editedby HILARY GATTI O Hilary Gatti and the contributors,2002 ASHGATE \J ;-'i'''- L..'- C}IAP'IE,RI'L,N Giordano Bruno and Astrology LeenSpruit Bruno's attitude tor,vardsastrolog)'r,vas n.rultifaceted. In his earlv as rvell as in his later lvorks, he leveliedvarious attrcks rgrrinst ertrol,.,gr,'.,yet crneof lris first rvorks, the lost De segni de' tentpi, ,u,rsprol.,ablv an astrologicaltrearise.r Moreover, in Spaccictde la bestid trionfante and, other works, he end.rsed thc horoscope of religio's,, and,in Libri Aristotelis pht'siconrm explanati, composed in thc late 1.!g0s, he explained generation and corruption drarving on clcarly asfrological concepts.'Also in his magicalworks he endorsedastrological conceprs. And at the verl- moment of his arrest in venice, he rvas in possessionof a manuscriptentitled De sigillisHermetis, Ptt)lt)ntoL,i ct a1i,.,y11111,copied in Paduabv his pupil Besler.'Theseilppar-ently conflicting attirudes are t. be understood in thc light of the specificcultural contexr of Bruno's intellectualforrnation' ancl activitv. .l Benveen 300 a.d 1700rrsrroi,rg\'\\'iìs deemed to be ncitherobscure nor implausible.It was an integratedpart of Europeernlife and cultr.rre. Astrological ideasirncl practices rvere vitallr.involved in philosophy,the arts and sciences.Astrology's appeal lay in the fact that it offerecl allegcdll' useful informari.n, s.merimes inaccessibleby any other means' while it looked and operated like a science.Ir r,vasaccepted by c'rutstandingscientists and philosophers, such as ptolomeus, Thomas Aquinas, cardano and Joha'nes Kepler. During the Renaiss:rnceit r,vas eventaught in many universitiesas an academicdiscipline.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Star Charts Anna Friedman Herlihy
    4 • Renaissance Star Charts Anna Friedman Herlihy Between the early fifteenth and the early seventeenth cen- of their predecessors for both technical data and artistic turies, star charts progressed from imprecise, often deco- style, with certain works reflecting moments of break- rative illustrations based on medieval manuscripts to through and the founding of new traditions. sophisticated map projections with systematized nomen- clature for the stars. The reimportation into Europe of Historiography technical classical texts such as Ptolemy’s Almagest, as well as Islamic works such as Abu¯ al-H. usayn Abd al- Despite the recent publication of a number of lavish illus- 3 Rah.ma¯n ibn Umar al-S.u¯fı¯’s constellation maps, appears trated books intended for a general public audience, the to have played a significant role in this transformation. By study of Renaissance star charts (and indeed star charts the early sixteenth century, with the publication of Al- in general) has been largely neglected by the scholarly brecht Dürer’s pair of maps in 1515, the most popular format for small celestial maps was definitively set: two hemispheres, north and south, on some sort of polar pro- jection. Around the turn of the seventeenth century, when Johannes Bayer published his 1603 Uranometria, the ba- I would like to thank Elly Dekker for her invaluable feedback and comments on the draft of this chapter, especially regarding the Hip- sic star atlas format was solidified, with one page for each parchus rule, and for several additional references of which I was un- constellation and perhaps a few hemispherical charts aware.
    [Show full text]
  • From Influence to Inhabitation: the Transformation of Astrobiology in the Early Modern Period
    1 From Influence to Inhabitation: The Transformation of Astrobiology in the Early Modern Period James Edward Christie Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. The Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study University of London January 2018 2 I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Signed: James Edward Christie 3 Abstract: This dissertation presents a conjoined and comparative history of astrology and the debate about the existence of extraterrestrial (ET) life in the early modern period. These two histories are usually kept separate, largely because the same period represents a certain terminus ad quem for the former and the terminus a quo for latter. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the decline or marginalisation of astrology—the dismantling of the celestial causal chain of Aristotelian cosmology and the dismissal of any planetary or astral influence outside of light, heat and gravitation. They also saw the adoption, or re-adoption, of the cosmological view concerning the existence of a plurality of worlds in the universe (pluralism) and the possibility of ET life. Both these trends are considered as consequences of a Copernican cosmology and hallmarks of a modern worldview. The modern and in some sense artificial delineation between these two strands of historical enquiry (i.e. the history of astrology and the history of pluralism) may be detrimental, both to our understanding of celestial philosophy at any given time, as well as to our appreciation of cosmological change over longer periods. The most general and obvious similarity is that both these concepts meld astronomy and the life sciences.
    [Show full text]
  • Medical Alchemy and Christian Thought in the Work of Jan Baptista Van Helmont (1579-1644)
    Delia Georgiana Hedesan ‘Christian Philosophy’: Medical Alchemy and Christian Thought in the Work of Jan Baptista Van Helmont (1579-1644) Submitted by Delia Georgiana Hedesan to the University of Exeter as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in September 2012 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature:………………………………………………………………………….. 1 Delia Georgiana Hedesan Abstract Today, the Flemish physician, alchemist and philosopher Jan Baptista Van Helmont (1579-1644) is mostly remembered as one of the founders of modern chemistry and medicine. However, Van Helmont saw himself rather differently: he firmly believed he had been called to articulate a ‘Christian Philosophy’ that would bring together Christian thought and natural philosophy in a harmonious synthesis. His ‘Christian Philosophy’ would be purged of the Aristotelian ‘heathenism’ he felt Scholasticism had been tainted with. Instead, it would convey a unitary view of God, Nature and Man that was in accord with Christian doctrine. The main purpose of this thesis is to understand how Van Helmont attempted to construct this new Christian Philosophy. The thesis will argue that the inspiration for this project lay in the medical alchemy developed by Theophrastus Paracelsus (1493- 1541) following medieval precedents. Paracelsus and many of his followers expressed the view that alchemy can act as the Christian key to Nature, and therefore an alliance of alchemical philosophy and Christianity was not only possible, but natural.
    [Show full text]
  • Copernicus in the Cultural Debates of the Renaissance: Reception, Legacy, Transformation
    Copernicus in the Cultural Debates of the Renaissance History of Science and Medicine Library VOLUME 45 Medieval and Early Modern Science Editors J.M.M.H. Thijssen (Radboud University Nijmegen) C.H. Lüthy (Radboud University Nijmegen) P.J.J.M. Bakker (Radboud University Nijmegen) Editorial Consultants Joël Biard (University of Tours) Simo Knuuttila (University of Helsinki) Jürgen Renn (Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science) Theo Verbeek (University of Utrecht) VOLUME 23 The titles published in this series are listed at http://www.brill.com/hsml Copernicus in the Cultural Debates of the Renaissance Reception, Legacy, Transformation By Pietro Daniel Omodeo LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Sebastian Münster’s Universal Map with the Earth in rotation about its axis. Courtesy of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (Washington, DC, USA). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Omodeo, Pietro Daniel, author. Copernicus in the cultural debates of the Renaissance reception, legacy, transformation / by Pietro Daniel Omodeo. pages cm. — (History of science and medicine library ; volume 45) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25178-6 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-25450-3 (e-book) 1. Science, Renaissance. 2. Science—History—16th century. 3. Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473–1543—Influence. I. Title. Q125.2.O46 2014 509.4’09031—dc23 2014014052 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface.
    [Show full text]