Luigi GalvaniLuigi Galvani (1737 -1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, anatomist and philosopher who also studied medicine and practiced as a doctor in Bologna, Italy. Galvani became broadly known for his scientific experiments, the most notable example taking place on November 6, 1787 when Galvani discovered that electrical currents could cause contractions in dead muscles and nerve tissue. He demonstrated such contractions in experiments with freshly killed frogs by which he inserted brass hooks in the spinal cords of frogs and attached the hooks to an iron railing. When Galvani stimulated the frogs with an electric charge, their legs twitched. He assumed incorrectly that he had proved the existence of "animal electricity." But he had unknowingly discovered what is still called galvanism. These ideas are expressed in his essay De viribus electricitatis in motu musculari commentaries (Commentary on the Effect of Electricity on Muscular Motion-1791) which describes Galvani’s experimental enquiries into the interactions between electricity and muscular motion, and his theory of animal electricity. Although his explanation of muscular movement induced by electricity was wrong, most scientists accepted his ideas, and his work stimulated science into new lines of investigation, both in physiology and in electricity. Alessandro Volta at the University of Padua was skeptical about Galvani's explanations, and the two scientists exchanged correspondence, which stimulated Galvani into more experiments to defend his theory. The theories that Galvani put forward were previously unseen within the scientific community, with many ridiculing and questioning his work. The ideas of Galvani emphasize his individual expression of imagination, which is a key element for the Romantics. They viewed an individual’s imagination as a wonderfully beautiful thing that should not be ignored due to established social rules and conventions and sought freedom of expression for everyone. Galvani was the epitome of the scientific goal to create life. This was perceived by the Romantics as a rational pursuit to destroy the natural order, which, can be seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Thus, Galvani’s impact upon the scientific community was extensive and equally as important upon the Romantic Movement as it showed that science was not always a rational endeavour but also showed how science tried to rationalise life.
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Charles DarwinAs the Enlightenment had a firm hold in France during the last decades of the 18th century, so the Romantic view on science was a movement that flourished in Great Britain and especially Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Both sought to increase individual and cultural self-understanding by recognizing the limits in human knowledge through the study of nature and the intellectual capacities of man.
The Romantic movement, however, resulted as an increasing dislike by many intellectuals for the tenets promoted by the Enlightenment; it was felt by some that Enlightened thinkers’ emphasis on rational thought through deductive reasoning and the mathematization of natural philosophy had created an approach to science that was too cold and that attempted to control nature, rather than to peacefully co-exist with nature To the Romantics, there was to be no split between man and nature. Romantics believed in the intrinsic ability of mankind to understand nature and its phenomena, much like the Enlightened philosophes, but they preferred not to dissect information as some insatiable thirst for knowledge and did not advocate what they viewed as the manipulation of nature. Romantic theorists saw the Enlightenment as the “cold-hearted attempt to extort knowledge from nature” that placed man above nature rather than as a harmonious part of it. The philosophy of nature was devoted to the observation of facts and careful experimentation, which was much more of a ‘hands-off’ approach to understanding science than the Enlightenment view, as it was considered too controlling Charles Robert Darwin,(12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. Charles Darwin was perhaps the naturalist most responsible for altering humanity’s view of nature (and human nature) over the past two centuries. Darwin’s main idea was not new, nor was it complete, but his belief that species evolved over time by means of natural selection has been profoundly influential throughout the modern world. His work and his successors have had a powerful impact on biology, ecology, palaeontology and social theory. In addition, his ideas continue to influence religious thinkers, literary and visual artists, psychologists, and politicians.
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Sir Isaac NewtonScientific movements and religious ways of thinking evolved together throughout the duration of the Romantic Era. Scientists, as they began to unravel the many mysteries of the body and the world on a larger scale effectively sparked a great debate between scientists, Romantic’s and civilians. Romantic’s began to question God’s place in society as the recounts of the Bible were not matching the facts that were surfacing. This argument grew to be a core driving force to the entire Romantic movement. Sir Isaac Newton, with a long list of accolades for his work in areas which include psychiatry, mathematics, philosophy and astronomy held great significance during the movement.
Sir Isaac Newton is most publicized for his development of the ‘Newton’s Three Laws of Motion’ which in summary, state:
Newton prided himself in his longing to define human life; ensuring all aspects of the body, nature and worldly interactions had an explanation. Romantic’s, whilst sourcing inspiration from his discoveries also grew frustrated with Newton and his theories as they directly coincided with their idea that the world had grown a chaotic mess to which Newton was trying to straighten out. The Romantic’s faced further clashing with Newton as their chase for freedom of the imagination and ones relationship with nature was faced with Newton’s passion to expose truth and reason. Overall, scientific paradigms and religious went hand in hand, however, Romantic’s and Newton proved to have clashing personalities. References:
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Andreas VesaliusAndreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was a Flemish physician born in Brussels, Belgium. He is best known for his revolutionary idea that dissection was necessary in order to understand human anatomy. However, during the 16th century, dissection of a human cadaver was illegal. However, this did not deter Vesalius who resorted to stealing the bodies of executed criminals in order to use them as specimens. He performed incredibly delicate dissections and his book, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body- 1543) included detailed and accurate anatomical drawings. The book discredited the teachings of Claudius Galen, a Greek anatomist whose assumptions about the human body, based on the anatomy of animals, had lasted for 1400 years. De Humani Corporis Fabrica transformed anatomy into a subject that relied upon observations through human dissection. Thus, by the 19th century, human dissections were being regularly practiced within medical schools around the world. Demand for bodies inspired the European body snatching trade, where criminals, known as “resurrectionists,” robbed fresh graves in order to sell cadavers to hospitals and medical schools. Possibly the most famous resurrectionists were William Burke and William Hare, who went so far as to commit 17 murders in Edinburgh, Scotland, in order to meet the demand for cadavers. The idea of desecrating a corpse or murdering an innocent person for the purpose of dissecting them became one of intense anger for the Romantics. They viewed it as nothing short of a cold, mechanical, and ultimately futile pursuit of reason that was an offence to the beauty of the human form. William Wordsworth himself said “our meddling intellect misshapes the beauteous forms of things- we murder to dissect.” the Romantics viewed the human body and soul as being incomprehensibly beautiful, and saw the practice of dissection as undermining this beauty. Thus, Vesalius’ impact upon the field of anatomy inspired and reaffirmed the Romantic position towards science as a blind force of reason.
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