Granting historicity to scientific objects: The analysis of the life history of “the outermost order of the muscle, back view”
Abstract
Scientific objects like human beings have their own stories. Thus, the
examination of their lifespans and how they transform in different contexts can
reveal not only information about the objects themselves, but also their social
and human circumstances. This article follows the long ‘travel’ of an image
from Albinus’ anatomy book, “The Outermost Order of the Muscle, Back
View”, with the goal of illuminating its transformation process through different
historical and social contexts. When Albinus was drawing the image, his intent
was to create an “ideal body”. This sort of image would be a perfect reference
point for the standardization among the plentiful bodies in nature. The article
then discusses how the image was appropriated by Diderot and d’Alembert in
their grand work Encyclopédie. The philosophers juxtasposed this particular
image to other anatomy pictures drawn by other scientists and offered multiple
perspectives, rather than imposing a single perspective on the reader as in the
case of Albinus. And lastly the image travelled to Şanizade’s Miratü’l-Ebdan,
where it lost its original scientific meaning and turned into a signifier of the
emergence of “new science” in the Ottoman Empire.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
-
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Publication Date
June 1, 2016
Submission Date
September 19, 2016
Acceptance Date
-
Published in Issue
Year 2016 Volume: 17 Number: 2