The Rise of Natural Philosophy, Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment (^) ‹ 107
The study of anatomy in the mid-sixteenth century typically consisted of a butcher dis-
secting a human cadaver while the instructor read aloud from the relevant historical text,
without actually participating in the dissection. Andreas Vesalius, unusually, performed
his own dissections, developing such skill that he moved quickly from assistant, to doctor,
to anatomy professor. His greatest work is De humani corporis fabrica—The Structure of
the Human Body, an anatomical text with over 200 illustrations, based on his personal
observations through dissection of human cadavers. In it, he corrected many misconcep-
tions, like his assertion that the largest blood vessels originate in the heart, rather than the
liver. Though he had fewer illustrations of women, he did note that women have the same
number of ribs and teeth as men.
Following in the observational tradition of Vesalius, William Harvey relied on his own
dissections of humans and animals to write Anatomical Studies on the Motion of Heart and
Blood in Animals (De Moto Cordis) in which he identified the vascular system as completing
a circuit within the body, the locus of which was located in the heart.
Contributions of Women During the Scientific Revolution
Women in the sciences during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries endured tremen-
dous challenges. Many of them were noblewomen who were informally taught through
interactions with or assistance of male relatives, such as Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, a poet, playwright, and natural philosopher. She and her husband had
a small salon, whose attendees included Thomas Hobbes and René Descartes. Though
permitted to attend a meeting of the Royal Society, she was denied membership. Through
her writings, she popularized many of the scientific theories of the day. She challenged the
scientific establishment, claiming that, for example, observations via microscope could be
misleading, resulting in false interpretations of the world. She also argued that theology and
the cosmos were beyond the scope of scientific inquiry and man’s control.
Another avenue for scientific study for middle-class women was through family trades.
Such was the case in Germany of Maria Sibylla Merian, whose father and stepfather were
an illustrator and an artist, respectively. Starting as an assistant to her stepfather, she col-
lected plants and insects for his works, eventually studying their life cycles and document-
ing them, both in words and images. Eventually she began publishing her works, which
became known for their detail and accuracy, especially those in an exhaustive study of the
insects and plants of Surinam. Similarly, Maria Winkelmann assisted first her father and
later her husband, Gottfried Kirch, with their study of astronomy. With her husband, she
observed and recorded the movement of stars and the weather and compiled the data to
be used in calendars and almanacs. In 1702, Maria discovered a comet, the first woman to
do so, but it was not acknowledged until eight years later. After her husband’s death, the
Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin rejected her application to take her husband’s place.
Winkelmann continued working in the field of astronomy, even predicting a comet, but
still struggled with being recognized in her own right.Cartesian Skepticism and Deductive Reasoning
Although many of those who took the lead in the Scientific Revolution in the second
half of the seventeenth century were born in Protestant countries, René Descartes had
been a citizen of Catholic France. But upon hearing of Galileo’s condemnation, Descartes15_Bartolini_Ch15_099-118.indd 107 27/04/18 1:54 PM