Galileo and the Health Sciences

Aug 7, 2015 - Apr 15, 2016

Galileo studied medicine and was once called as an expert medical witness in a trial. It was a friend of Galileo’s, who was a physician in Venice, who invented a device to measure the pulse, called the pulsilogium. One of the first edition works held by OU contains an inscription by Galileo to another physician in Venice. Publication of Galileo’s Dialogo was held up for years due to an outbreak of plague. A physician-engineer follower of Galileo applied the physics of the lever and other simple machines to the working of the musculoskeletal system.

The use of artistic illustrations in the service of anatomy remains one of the most striking developments of medicine during Galileo’s world. This exhibit explores the connections between Galileo’s world and the world of the Health Sciences at OU today.

Exhibit At A Glance

1. Anatomy

Galileo’s intellectual circle included artists, engineers and physicians. Leonardo da Vinci was not the only artist who engaged in dissections and constructed machines. Renaissance artists studied anatomy with medical students, engineers studied drawing with artists, and physicians applied mechanical concepts to open up new ways of understanding the human body. The common conversation among artists, engineers and physicians is manifest in the artistic and mechanical aspects of these anatomical works.
1	Mondino dei Luzzi, Anatomy, 1507 (Anothomia). Venice, 1507
2	Mondino dei Luzzi, Anatomy, 1541 (Anatomia). Marburg, 1541
3	Charles Estienne, On the Dissection of the Parts of the Human Body (De dissectione partium corporis humani). Paris, 1545
4	Andreas Vesalius, On the Fabric of the Human Body, 1543 (De humani corporis fabrica). Basel, 1543
5	Andreas Vesalius, Correspondence (Epistola). Basel, 1546
6	Matteo Realdo Colombo, On Anatomy (De re anatomica). Venice, 1559
7	Bartolomeo Eustachi, Anatomical Illustrations (Tabulae anatomicae). Geneva, 1716
8	Santorio Santorio, Commentary on the Canon of Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (Commentaria in canonis Avicennae). Venice, 1646
9	Galileo Thermoscope replica, Bird Health Sciences Library
10	Giovanni Borelli, On the Motion of Animals, 1680 - 81 (De motu animalium). Rome, 1680-81
11	Nicolaus Steno, Anatomical Observations (Observationes anatomicae). Leiden, 1662
12	William Harvey, The Anatomical Exercises of Dr. William Harvey. London, 1653
13	René Descartes, On the Body, 1662 (De homine). Leiden, 1662
14	René Descartes, On the Body, 1677 (L’Homme). Paris, 1677
15	Christoph von Hellwig, Living Anatomy (Anatomicum vivum). Frankfurt, 1720

2. Health Care

Vignettes from Galileo’s world and the history of medicine illustrate a variety of health care resources and practitioners. Which of these vignettes offer perspective on the spectrum of health care needs in Oklahoma today? Life cycle care; women’s health; pre-natal care, birthing and midwifery; children’s diseases; sports medicine and exercise science; epidemiology, contagious disease and the black plague; preventive medicine; health and wellness; surgery and chemotherapy; data visualization; psychology; nutrition; pharmaceutical preparation; medical commerce and horticulture; government regulations and management; hygiene and health; dentistry; medical education and professional formation.
1	Hippocrates, Works of Hippocrates (Opera). Venice, 1588
2	Ibn Sina, Avicenna's Canon of Medicine (Avicenna Arabum medicorum principis). Venice, 1608
3	Hildegard of Bingen, Medical Remedies (Physica). Strassburg, 1533
4	, Garden of Health (Hortus sanitatis). Mainz, 1491
5	Paracelsus, Collected Works (Opera Bücher). Strassburg, 1603
6	Georg Bartisch, Ophthalmology (Opthamoduleia). Dresden, 1583
7	Gregor Reisch, The Pearl of Knowledge (Margarita filosofica). Venice, 1599
8	Giovanni Boccaccio, 100 Tales (The Decameron). New York, 1925
9	Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy ( ). Oxford, 1628
10	John Parkinson, Theater of Plantes ( ). London, 1640
11	Huszty von Raszynya, Critical Commentary on the Official Austrian Pharmacopoeia (Kritischer Kommentar über die Östreichsche Provinzialpharmakopee). Bratislava, 1785
12	, Aristotle’s Masterpiece ( ). Edinburgh, 1788
13	John Hunter, The Natural History of Human Teeth ( ). London, 1803
14	Edward Jenner, The Cow Pox. London, 1798
16	Florence Nightingale, Army Sanitary Administration and its Reform under the late Lord Herbert. London, 1862

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Supplemental resources for a rich educational experience

	Thermoscope Galileo developed an instrument to measure changes in temperature called a thermoscope.
	Origin and Development of the Microscope Learn more about the origin and development of the microscope.
	Microscopic Anatomy Learn more about the foundations of microscopic anatomy.
	Galileo’s Microscope Learn more about Galileo's microscope.
	Galileo's World Exhibit Guide iBook companion to the Galileo's World exhibition

Galileo and the Health Sciences

How might a friend of Galileo’s practice health care?

Galileo and the Health Sciences

Robert M. Bird Health Sciences Library

Exhibit At A Glance

1. Anatomy

2. Health Care

Explore the Topic