Main description:

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.

Contents:

1. Introduction - Fabrizio Bigotti and Jonathan Barry 2. 'Gears of an Inner Clock': Santorio's Theory of Matter and its Applications - Fabrizio Bigotti 3. The Uncertainty of Medicine: Readings and Reactions to Santorio between Tradition and Reformation (1615-1721) - Fabiola Zurlini 4. Daniel Sennert's Response to Santorio Santori in the Light of Chymical Atomism - William R. Newman 5. Atoms, Mixture, and Temperament in Early Modern Medicine: The Alchemical and Mechanical Views of Sennert and Beeckman - Elisabeth Moreau 6. Regius between Santorio and Descartes: The Quantification and Mechanization of the Passions in Seventeenth-Century Medicine - Fabrizio Baldassarri 7. Santorio and Leibniz on Natural Immortality: The Question of Emergence and the Question of Emanative Causation - Andreas Blank8. Santorio Santori on Plague: Ideas and Experience between Venice and Naples - Vivian Nutton and Silvana D'Alessio9. 'An inquisitive man, considering when and where he liv'd': Robert Boyle on Santorio Santori and Insensible Perspiration - Salvatore Ricciardo 10. Giovanni Alfonso Borelli and Santorio on the Explanation of Fevers - Fabio Zampieri11. Bodies in Balance: Santorio's Legacy in Baglivi's Medicine - Luca Tonetti12. Disputing Santorio: Johannes de Gorter's Neurological Theory of Insensible Perspiration - Ruben Verwaal 13. The Influence of Santorio Santori on the Dietetics of Carl Linnaeus - Luciana Costa Lima Thomaz14. Weighing Authority: Lavoisier's and Seguin's Reassessment of Santorio's Experiments on Transpiration - Francesca Antonelli