This is a past event
International Conference Medical Knowledge between Polymathy and Disciplinarity: Duncan Liddel (1561-1613) in Context
8-10 May 2013
Sir Duncan Rice Library Conference Room 1, Floor 7, with Key note speaker Prof. Mordechai Feingold fom CalTech. For inquiries please contact the organiser: Prof. Karin Friedrich, k.friedrich@abdn.ac.uk. Please consult the draft programme under http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mayfestival/
Despite a wealth of material in British and continental university repositories relating to the early modern history of medicine, we still know little about the role and influence of what we now call polymaths within the medical profession. One such polymath was Duncan Liddel (1561-1613), who built extensive scholarly networks between Scotland, Poland, Denmark and Germany. He settled in Helmstedt to lecture in medicine, mathematics and astronomy, where Melanchthonian 'methodus et ars' encouraged men of science to eschew polymathy in favour of a more fragmented disciplinary approach.
In cooperation with the Special Collection at Aberdeen University, this conference, which is funded partly by the Wellcome Trust, the Centre for Early Modern Studies, the Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine and the Centre for the Study of History, Culture and the Environment at the University of Aberdeen, focuses on Liddel’s manifold activities, set within a comparative context of medicine as practiced in Scotland and Germany, both within the university and as extra-mural profession. It aims to highlight the transition from pre-disciplinary thinking (polymathy) towards increasing specialism and the way ideas concerning the distinction between branches of science and natural philosophy were translated and communicated across national boundaries. It combines a focus on Liddel’s agency with the wider context of knowledge transmission in continental Europe, investigating the link between ideas and practice in the defining era for the development of modern science.
Several key questions about the relationship between discipline formation, professionalisation and what increasing disciplinarity branded as ‘polymathy’ are proposed for discussion:
- How did ‘polymaths’ define disciplinary distinctions, particularly between medicine, pharmacy, alchemy, surgery, and how did these boundaries ‘discipline’ thinking over time?
- To what extent were polymathic scholars such as Liddel at a disadvantage compared to subsequent, more profoundly specialised ‘experts’ in their fields, and what persuaded scholars to prefer specialism over ‘polymathy’?
- How did philosophy of medicine, medical teaching and medical practice interact?
- What impact did Scottish-continental science networks have on the development of Scottish science and medicine, and what role did the transfer of ideas and practices play for the sciences within and outside universities?
- What was and is the role of medical and science archives and professorial libraries?
Wednesday, 8 May
16.00 Registration in the Foyer of the Sir Duncan Rice Library Conference room: Seminar Room One in the Library, on the 7th floor 17.00- 17.15 Welcome and Introduction to the Conference (Karin Friedrich) 17.15-18.15 Key Note by Mordechai Feingold (CalTech) 19.00 Welcome Dinner (place tbc)
Thursday 9 May
9.00 Registration in the Foyer of the Sir Duncan Rice Library 9.30-11.00 From ‘Polymathy’ to disciplines: the place of medicine Chair: Ben Marsden (Aberdeen) tbc John Henry (Edinburgh): Mathematics and Medicine in Liddel’s time: Jean Fernel and Girolamo Cardano Jenny Rampling (Cambridge): Early modern alchemy and medicine: ideas and practices 11.00-11.30 Coffee/Tea break 11.30-13.00 The case of Duncan Liddel Chair: Jennifer Downes (Aberdeen) Laura di Giammatteo (Charité Berlin): Liddel’s Ars Medica: Galenism and Paracelsianism Pietro Omodeo (MPIWG Berlin): The Library of Duncan Liddel 13.00-14.15 Lunch (Buffet lunch) 14.15-15.45 Natural Philosophy and Medicine in Scotland and Europe Chair: Michael Brown (Aberdeen) Duncan Cockburn (Aberdeen): Intellectual interchange: medicine, natural philosophy and Duncan Liddel Andreas Corcoran (Florence/Kent): Natural Philosophy, Law and Medicine: The Construction of Witchcraft at Rinteln, Helmstedt and Halle 15.45-16.30 Coffee/Tea break 17.00 Exhibition: Duncan Liddel’s library (Special Collection), Dr Siobhan Convery (Aberdeen) 19.30 Reception with canapés
Friday 10 May
9.00-10.30 Scottish and European polymathic networks Chair: William G. Naphy (Aberdeen) Ole Peter Grell (Open University): Medical Travel and Medical Education in early modern Europe Esther Mijers (Reading): Polymathic networks between Scotland and the Netherlands 10.30-11.00 Coffee/Tea break 11.00-12.30 Scottish and European polymathic networks II Chair: Scott Gehring (Durham) Kathrin Zickermann (UHI): Scottish-German networks Richard Kirwan (St Andrews): It’s who you know: scholarly networks in Duncan Liddel’s Helmstedt 12.45-14.15 Lunch 14.30-16.00 Medical knowledge transfer and the role of archives and libraries Chair: Andrew Gordon (Aberdeen) Elizabeth Harding (HAB Wolfenbüttel): The Professorial Household Elizabethanne Boran (Dublin): The Medical collections at the Edward Worth Library, Dublin 16.00-17.00 Addressing the main research questions: Discussion panel and future planning 17.30 End of Conference
- Speaker
- Various
- Venue
- Conference Room 1, Floor 7, Sir Duncan Rice Library, University of Aberdeen