Hiro Hirai. Medical Humanism and Natural Philosophy: Renaissance Debates on Matter, Life, and the Soul. History of Science and Medicine Library 26; Medieval and Early Modern Science 17. Leiden: Brill, 2011. ix + 228 pp. $136. ISBN: 978–90–04–21871–0.

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 913-915
Author(s):  
Pietro Daniel Omodeo
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Early Modern Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Humanism

scholarly journals Making the History of Early Modern Science: Reflections on a Discipline in the Age of Globalization

2015 ◽  
Vol 70 (02) ◽  
pp. 307-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Romano
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Homogeneous Field ◽  
Early Modern Science ◽  
Anthropology Of Science ◽  
Change Of Scale ◽  
History Of

Abstract What kind of history is the history of science? To what extent does the academic research labeled as such delineate a homogeneous field? What are the current challenges that it faces? The recent translation of Simon Schaffer’s works into French, along with the publication of his 2014 Marc Bloch Lecture in the Annales, provides the framework for this article’s historiographical reflection on the profound changes that have taken place within the discipline over the last thirty years, particularly within a French context. The analysis is twofold. First, it aims to trace how new approaches to the sociology and anthropology of science have reconfigured the boundaries of the discipline. Second, it considers the effect of the abandonment of one of its major historiographical paradigms by most of the scholars currently working on early modern science: the scientific revolution as the rise of scientific modernity, underpinned by a Eurocentric vision of the production of knowledge. Although most research on the early modern period now strives to distance itself from this narrative, it must also face new challenges and questions—in particular the role of science in the processes of globalization and the multiplicity of sites and social configurations that participate in this change of scale. These challenges point towards new methods and styles in the history of science and, more broadly, the social sciences.

scholarly journals Through dark and mysterious paths. Early modern science and the search for the origin of springs from the 16th to the 18th centuries

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Luzzini
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Unpublished Manuscript ◽  
Early Modern Science ◽  
Problematic Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lively Debate

Since its first attempts to understand natural phenomena, early modern science devoted great attention to the problematic issue of the origin of springs. This essay examines the lively debate that emerged from the studies on fresh water during the years spanning from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth. By focusing on the interpretations advanced by several authors (including lesser known, but nonetheless important figures such as Mario Bettini, Edward Barlow, and Diacinto Cestoni), and by introducing Antonio Vallisneri's Primi itineris specimen, an unpublished manuscript which reveals significant insights into the hydrogeological debate, a new analysis is provided of the heterogeneous factors which influenced the path of natural philosophy towards the comprehension of the water cycle. The conclusion suggests how a reconsideration of the intricate backgrounds underlying many scientific debates and concepts could play a critical role in solving a still controversial issue: science's need for a history of science.

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