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Article ID: CBB001221621

Balancing Acts: Picturing Perspiration in the Long Eighteenth Century (2012)

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Volume: 43
Pages: 379--391

Publication Date: 2012
Edition Details: Part of a special section: “Assimilating Knowledge---Food and Nutrition in Early Modern Physiologies”
Language: English

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Medicine Metabolism; physiological chemistry Experiments and experimentation Visual representation; visual communication Nutrition; dietetics Illustrations Human physiology 18th century Santorio, Santorio

This essay examines the historical fortunes of an image that throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries became a landmark of the medical doctrine and practice of static medicine advanced by the physician Santorio Santorio (1561--1636). The image depicted a man sitting on a large Roman steelyard, which allowed the weighing of bodily discharges and gave guidance on the intake of food. Well into the eighteenth century, the image of the weight-watching man accompanied Santorio's work on the art of static medicine and, most likely, contributed to its success. It appeared in a variety of medical works and navigated across competing medical theories and different medical genres, while remaining largely unscathed. This essay explores the success and the historical agency of this image. Focusing on the history of its copies and variants, it investigates how the image came to symbolize the attempt to transform dietetics into an experimental practice, and accordingly preserve its pivotal significance in the medical world.

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Article Orland, Barbara; Spary, E. C. (2012) Introduction. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (p. 317). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001221621/

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