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The word ‘ambivalence’ best captures the mood of the transformations in popular and applied sciences of the 15th and 16th centuries. We want to know more, but can we know too much? ‘Science and philosophy’ examines the many new discoveries made in anatomy, geometry, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy during the period. Man's relationship to the mind, body, and environment were all transformed during the Renaissance as a result of renewed scientific vigour in the pursuit of practical problem solving, the exchange of ideas between cultures, and new technologies. What was natural philosophy? What caused science to split from philosophy? ...Less

‘Medicine at the bedside’ examines the origins of Western medicine in ancient Greece, as relayed by the writings of Hippocrates, and the legacy of Hippocratic medicine. The approach was entirely holistic, based upon a thorough examination of the patient's social, economic and familial circumstances, as well as his diet and tendencies to disease. There was little emphasis on anatomy and the Greeks did not dissect bodies. They used a system of four humours — blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm — in diagnosis and treatment. This system was then transmitted to Western Europe and expanded through the writings of Galen, who came to dominate medical thinking for more than a millennium. ...Less

Comedy rescues difficult situations. It helps dig people out of holes and help them deal with suffering. As Nietzsche has proclaimed: ‘Perhaps I know best why man alone laughs. He alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.’ ‘Beyond a joke’ questions whether laughter occurs most often in melancholy people and considers the wide range of shapes that responses to suffering take. The most developed theory of how and why laughter covers seriousness comes from Freud. A joke, he believes, like a dream, is a surreptitious reclaiming of possibilities for enjoyment, a disguised way of relieving pain caused by repressing forbidden desires. ...Less

‘The development of anatomy’ provides a short history of anatomical study beginning with Aristotle (384–322 bc) who named the subject anatome, meaning ‘cutting up’. Herophilus of Chalcedon (c.300 bc), ‘The Father of Anatomy’, was the first to dissect human bodies in public and recognized the brain as the central organ of the nervous system. Galen (c.ad 150–200) elaborated a system of pathology based on the ideas of Hippocrates. His work was the standard text until the 16th century when Andreas Vesalius (1514–64), produced his masterpiece, On the Fabric of the Human Body. William Harvey (1578–1657) and Marcello Malpighi (1628–94) described the anatomy of the heart and blood vessels in further detail. ...Less

‘Medicine in the library’ describes the continued influence of ancient manuscripts throughout Europe and the Middle East, and how individuals with access to such texts dominated healthcare until the emergence of medical schools and universities from the eleventh century onwards. Early medical schools and hospitals allowed medicine to be taught on a wider scale, but led to little scientific research until the discovery of anatomy in the fourteenth century. Public dissections inspired greater interest and research on the nature of the body, as part of the Renaissance's scientific revolution. Despite this, diagnosis remained holistic and treatment methods changed little. ...Less