Article ID: CBB000850590

Harvey's and Highmore's Accounts of Chick Generation (2008)

unapi

Ekholm, Karin Jori (Author)


Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period
Volume: 13
Pages: 568--614


Publication Date: 2008
Edition Details: Part of special issue: “Observation and Experiment in Mechanistic Anatomy”
Language: English

Harvey and Highmore experimented together on chick fetuses at Oxford in the early 1640s, yet in 1651 published significantly different treatises on generation that emphasize their reliance on observations and dissections of fetal chicks at different stages of incubation. The key differences follow from their views on matter and souls. Harvey conceives of living bodies as governed by Aristotelian souls and faculties. Highmore views matter as made of corpuscles and describes organs as involved in chemical procedures. Highmore's treatise is a response to Digby's claim that heat, moisture, and pressure could explain generation. Although Digby's treatment lacks Harvey's and Highmore's attention to detail, it offers a point of comparison that leads to a more nuanced understanding of their explanation. Moreover, Highmore's dedication of his work to Boyle provides a new perspective on both men's intellectual evolution from the latter part of the 1640s to 1651.

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Article Bertoloni Meli, Domenico; Wilkin, Rebecca (2008) Observation and Experiment in Mechanistic Anatomy. Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period (p. 531). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000850590/

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Authors & Contributors
Ekholm, Karin Jori
Bäumer, Änne
Shillito, Alex Benjamin
Baldassarri, Fabrizio
Goldberg, Benjamin Isaac
Wilson, Luke
Concepts
Physiology
Embryology
Anatomy
Zoology
Medicine
Reproduction
Time Periods
17th century
16th century
Early modern
20th century, early
Renaissance
19th century
Places
Great Britain
England
United States
Italy
France
British Isles
Institutions
Plymouth Marine Laboratory (Great Britain)
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