Science in Early Modern Europe: Change and Continuity

An engraving of Tycho Brahe at his quadrant muralis, Astronomiae instauratae mechanica (1598)

• Was there a Scientific Revolution? If so, when did it begin?

• What was the relationship between ‘science’ and religion? Was it one of cooperation or antagonism?

• Who was creating scientific knowledge? Who did it serve?

• Was scientific knowledge the work of a few great men, or created by communities of scholars?

• Is early-modern science ‘modern?’

‘Science’ in Early Modern Europe• The modern word ‘science’ comes from

the latin noun scientia, which means knowledge or skill.

• Natural philosophy and natural history were branches of learning that created systematic knowledge about the universe. These terms were used in antiquity, and were an integral part of the medieval university curriculum. Natural philosophy was called “the handmaiden of theology” as it aimed to understand God’s created universe.

• Therefore, pre-modern ‘science’ must be understood within its cultural context, and cannot be compared to our modern understanding of the word. Some natural historians- and philosophers, may seem modern by our standards, while others are firmly rooted in world views that seem ‘unscientific’ today.

• For these reasons, it is necessary to reserve judgment on whether or not early theories were scientifically correct by today’s standards, and try to understand them within the context of their own time and place.

Early Academies and OrganizationsAccademia dei Segredi (Academia Secretorum Naturae)

• Academy of the Secrets of Nature, Naples• Founded in 1560 by Giambattista della Porta, occultist, astrologer, cryptographer, and

mycologist (among other natural historical- and philosophical fields)• The members consisted of upper class men with an interest in natural-philosophical pursuits;

they met at della Porta’s residence• Pope Gregory VIII forced della Porta to close the Academy in 1578 due to the founder’s

continuing battles with the church over his (possibly heretical) interests

Accademia dei Lincei

• Academy of the Lynx-Eyed, Florence• Founded 1603 by Federico Cesi, an Umbrian aristocrat with a passion for natural history• Motto: minima cura si maxima vis "Take care of small things if you want to obtain the greatest

results”• Closed in 1651, about twenty years after the founder’s death• Notable members included Galileo and della Porta, as well as men from the Netherlands,

Germany, and Greece

And others? Harkness’ “Jewel House” in Elizabethan England.

Natural History in the New World

Like their medieval predecessors, natural-historians in the post-Columbian world tried to reconcile new discoveries with classical and biblical sources. America became part of a long tradition of allegorical depictions of the continent; The Four Continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America) were almost always depicted as women.

Adriaen Collaert’s “America” (c. 1588-89)

A New (Old) System: The “Copernican Revolution”

Title page from the second edition of De Revolutionibus, Basel, 1566

“For a long time, then, I reflected on this confusion in the astronomical traditions concerning the derivation of the motions of the universe’s spheres. I began to be annoyed that the movements of the world machine, created for our sake by the best and most systematic Artisan of all, were not understood with greater certainty by the philosophers, who otherwise examined so precisely the most insignificant trifles of this world. For this reason I undertook the task of rereading the works of all the philosophers which I could obtain to learn whether anyone had ever proposed other motions of the universe’s spheres than those expounded by the teachers of astronomy in the schools. And in fact first I found in Cicero that Hicetas supposed the earth to move. Later I also discovered in Plutarch that certain others were of this opinion. I have decided to set his words down here, so that they may be available to everybody:

Some think that the earth remains at rest. But Philolaus the Pythagorean believes that, like the sun and moon, it revolves around the fire in an oblique circle. Heraclides of Pontus, and Ecphantus the Pythagorean make the earth move, not in a progressive motion, but like a wheel in a rotation from west to east about its own center.

Therefore, having obtained the opportunity from these sources, I too began to consider the mobility of the earth. And even though the idea seemed absurd, nevertheless I knew that others before me had been granted the freedom to imagine any circles whatever for the purpose of explaining the heavenly phenomena. Hence I thought that I too would be readily permitted to ascertain whether explanations sounder than those of my predecessors could be found for the revolution of the celestial spheres on the assumption of some motion of the earth.”

—Letter to Pope Paul III, Preface to De Rev. (1543)

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601): Non haberi sed esse

• In 1576 the King of Denmark gave Tycho the island of Hven so that the astronomer could build a mansion-observatory. Tycho named his compound Uraniborg, after Urania, the muse of Astronomy. After falling out with the king in 1597, Tycho moved to the court of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague, where he met his assistant Johannes Kepler.

• Tycho was the last of the great naked-eye observers; he expanded and enlarged observational equipment (like the quadrant muralis) and invented some of his own.

• His cosmographical system, known as the Tychonic System, sought to combine the ancient Ptolomaic System with Copernicus’ mathematical calculations.

• After his death in 1601, Kepler inherited Tycho’s data, which he used to create his laws of planetary motion.

• Tycho Brahe was born to a Danish nobleman and courtier, and attended the University of Copenhagen in order to study law, later studying at the University of Rostock in Germany.

• He became interested in astronomy and mathematics while at school; his feelings for the latter were so strong that at the age of 20 he took part in a nighttime sword duel with a fellow student because of a mathematical disagreement. He lost part of his nose in the duel, and wore a prosthetic—most likely made of brass—for the rest of his life.

• Through his extremely precise observations, Tycho observed a supernova in the constellation of Cassiopeia in 1572; this phenomenon went against the traditional Aristotelian cosmographical model, and inspired new sets of questions about the superlunary world. He published his findings in 1573 in a book entitled De Nova Stella.

Mysterium Cosmographicum, 1596• Written by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), Tycho

Brahe’s assistant and later imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolph II. As such, an important part of his job was giving the emperor astrological advice and prepare his horoscope.

• While demonstrating planetary conjunctions, the story goes, Kepler realized that the five Platonic solids (regular, convex polyhedrons) could fit within and confine spheres.

• When each solid was fit within a sphere, it correlated to the six known planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn. Basing his model on a heliocentric model, Kepler believed that each solid corresponded with the size of each planet’s orbit around the sun.

• For Kepler, this was proof of God’s existence; a mathematically derived, harmonious universe vibrating with the “music of the Spheres.”

• Over two decades later, Kepler published a second edition, which took into account his work on planetary orbits. Harmonices Mundi (Harmonics of the World) was published in 1619; it is here that Kepler posited his third law.

Natural Magic

• “Natural Magic” was a term used to denote practices that explored the occult or unseen forces in the natural world. This included everything from alchemical experiments to conjuring spirits.

• The medieval and early-modern practice of natural magic can be traced back to the Hermetic Corpus, or the writings of Hermes Trismegistus (“The Thrice Renowned”) a figure from the Mosaic age.

• della Porta published his Magia Naturalis in 1559, in which he discussed demonology, magnetism, divination and optics. Like his contemporaries, he believed that there was an underlying order to the world that could be discovered through reading the Book of Nature.

• Learned magic and magical folk practices shared some similarities, and informed each other throughout the early-modern period.

“[Magic] opens up unto us the properties and qualities of hidden things, and the knowledge of the whole course of nature…the works of magic are nothing else but the works of nature, whose dutiful handmaid magic is.”

—Giambattista della Porta

“The Fool” from the Visconti-Sforza tarrochi deck, c. 1440. Unlike modern tarot, tarrochi was simply a card game, though like many other household objects (including the Bible), cards were often used for divination.

Alchemy: Purification and Salvation through Science

Jan van der Straet (1523-1605) Distillatio, late 16th cent

• From the Arabic noun al-Kimiya, taken from the Greek chemeia, western alchemy was born in the Hellenistic period, and made its reappearance in Europe starting in the 10th century, though it was relatively unknown outside of Spain for another several centuries.

• The ultimate goal of alchemy is to turn base metals into precious ones—for example lead into gold—and to create the Philosopher’s Stone, which would yield an elixir that could cure all illnesses and stave off death.

• Alchemical theory, founded on an Aristotelian-Neoplatonic physics, was based on the idea that if the elements in a given subject could be altered, the (non-physical) Form could be changed.

• From the beginning, alchemy was both a technological practice and a spiritual one: as the metals were purified with the heat of fire, so the soul of the practitioner must be purified of sin through prayer and fasting.

• The philosophy of alchemy also embraced basic principles of gnosticism, which embraced the dual nature of the universe (good and evil, light and dark, etc.) and believed that human beings are made of a divine spark that has been dirtied by sin and the physical nature of the world. Therefore, Christian alchemists connected these ideas of purification to their understanding of sin and salvation.

• In theory, the gnostic aspect of alchemy was problematic for theologians, but some Catholic practitioners compared the transmutations of metals with the miracle of the Eucharist.

• While some alchemical workshops boasted many assistants, the most prevalent image is that of the lone magus, who eventually became the figure of the “great man” of science, working in an intellectual vacuum.

Does “philosopher’s stone” sound familiar?

The Ripley Scroll (c. late 15th cent.)Hermes Trismegistus (?) and the Philosopher’s VesselEST LAPIS OCCULTUS SECRETO FONTE SEPVLTVS FERMENTVM VARIAT LAPIDEM QVI CVNCTA COLORAT. (“Here is the hidden stone buried in the secret fountain; it varies the fermented stone, which colors everything.”)

Handle Inscription: “YOW MOST MAKE WATER OF YE ERTHE AND ERTHE OF YE AYER AND AYER OF THE FIRES AND FIER OF YE ERTHE” The toad represents matter, and the body of the alembic contains nine scenes depicting the alchemical process through allegorical figures and scenes, including the creation of a homunculus and the chemical wedding.

“In the name of ye trynite herken here & ye shall seemyne auctor yat fformyth thys work both ffirst last bryghte & darksom of hem I shalle ye tellboth In rhyme & In spell . . .fformeth I wys alle thys workas these accorrde nowe In one that here ys the philosoffers stone other wyse yt may not beouer stone well thys I council thee & pray youe god of hys gracethat thowe mayest save tyme & place to have the trowth of thys parable thank thowe god yat ys so stableffor many a man defyeiyth thys"

Medicine in the Early Modern World

• Physicians and natural philosophers believed that by reading the ‘Book of Nature’ properly, the physician could find a cure for any disease within nature; in other words, that God had left clues in the natural world to benefit mankind, if only we knew how and where to look. This was called the “doctrine of sympathies.”

• The humors also played a role in personality, the amount of vital heat in the body was an integral part of maintaining good health and a pleasant disposition. The scientia of physiognomy tried to taxonomize everything from hair and eye color to libido by “reading” the humoral balance through a person’s appearance and personality traits.

• Like their medieval counterparts, early-modern Europeans believed in the humoral theory, which dates back to Hippocrates of Kos (5th c BCE) and “perfected” by Galen of Pergamon the 1st century AD Roman physician.

• These ancient theories taught that the body was governed by four fluids—blood, bile, black bile, and phlegm—which in turn corresponded with the four elements. This relationship between the human body and the universe was called the microcosm-macrocosm theory.

• The “Syphilitic Man” is a woodcut attributed to Albrecht Durer, and was included in a 1496 treatise on scabies, by the physician Theodericus Ulsenius of Nürnberg

• The date 1484, surrounded by astrological symbols, tells the reader that the outbreak of disease was attributed to a series of planetary alignments that took place in that year, though the first recorded outbreak of syphilis—often called the morbus gallicus, or ‘french disease’—occurred when French troops besieged the city of Naples in 1495.

• In the first few decades, the disease spread like wildfire and killed infected men and women within a few years. By the mid-sixteenth century, it had become less virulent, though still painful and potentially deadly.

• Primary syphilis: sores and pustules on the genitals• Secondary syphilis: a rash, often pustular, on the arms or legs; sore throat,

fever, eye or joint inflammation• Tertiary: a non-infectious form that can lead to the formation of tumor-like

boils on the skin or bones; neurosyphilis can cause seizures and dementia• Congenital: passed from mother to fetus or newborn during birthing

process; young children born with the disease often had neurosyphilis or facial- and joint deformation.

‘A night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury’: Europe contracts Syphilis

A urethral syringe, used to deposit mercury into the urethra to cure syphilis. This syringe was recovered from Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545.

Portrait of Paracelsus (1493-1541), after the lost painting by Quentin Matsys

“The Errant Knight of Science”: Paracelsus and the Birth of Iatrochemisty

• “There can be no surgeon who is not also a physician…Where the physician is not also a surgeon he is an idol that is nothing but a painted monkey.”

• Born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim in a petty-noble family in Swabia, he took the name Paracelsus, meaning “above Celsus” in c. 1529.

• Be began studying medicine in Ferrara around 1512, where he first came into contact with the ideas of men like Marsilio Ficino; he likely started his research on syphilis here as well.

• Paracelsus became a practicing physician in Germany after traveling through Europe learning local wisdom and medical lore.

• He became an outspoken critic of the Hippocratic-Galenic system while lecturing in Basel.

• In 1527, he publicly burned several traditional medical works to protest against his treatment by the medical faculty. He was forced to flee the city, and while in exile he began his experiments with mercury as a treatment for syphilis.

• 1530: Opus Paragranum, which outlines his theories on medicine, science, and natural philosophy, including natural magic. He wrote the Opus Paramirum the same year, which included his Entientheorie, the theory that each disease has its own being (ens).

• Unlike traditional humoral theories, Paracelsus asserted that all human life consists of three basic components: sulphur, mercury, and salt. These components were produced by the four elements: fire, air, earth, and water.

• He also wrote on “invisible illnesses,” including visions, melancholy, and delusions.

• 1536: Beginning in this year, he began to publish prognostications. While he worked tirelessly to defend himself from accusations that he practiced black magic, Paracelsus continued to publish works in which he prophesied that the biblical end times were at hand.

• FUN FACT: Paracelsus coined the term “gnome” as a synonym for pygmaeus, the mythical little people Classical authors situated in far-off Aethiopia. (Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins)

Medicine and Medical Illustration: Wound Man

A mid-15th century version of Wound Man from a surgical treatise. A woodcut of Wound Man from the 1537 edition of Paracelsus’ Great Surgery. Woodblocks were time-consuming and expensive to create,

so they were often shared between printers.

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)• Born in Brussels; his father was the pharmacist to Emperor

Charles V • While studying anatomy in Paris, he reportedly robbed a

gibbet, boiled the bones and reassembled the skeleton.• When war forced him to flee France, he studied medicine

at Padua. Inspired by the recent rediscovery of Galen’s On Anatomical Procedures, Vesalius became one of many physicians who desired more hands-on experience in the anatomy theater.

• While studying Galen’s text, Vesalius noted that in many places, the theory did not match the reality he saw. Beginning in 1539, he smuggled home the bodies of executed criminals and began to compose his great work, De humani corporis fabrica, which was completed in 1542.

• While other physicians has questioned and criticized Galen, Vesalius was the first to do so systematically, starting with bones and continuing on to nerves and viscera—this progression was the opposite of the usual medieval practice.