Giorgio Baglivi
Encyclopedia
Gjuro Baglivi, also Giorgio Baglivi, (September 8, 1668 in Dubrovnik
– June 15, 1707 in Rome
) was an Italian
physician and scientist, was born in poor circumstances at Ragusa in Dalmatia, his real name being Armeno. His family soon removed to Lecce in Apulia, and Giorgio took the name of his adopted father, a wealthy physician named Pier Angelo Baglivi. He made important contributions to clinical education, based on his own medical practice, and in De Fibra Motrice advanced the theory that the solid parts of organs are more crucial to their good functioning than their fluids.
first in Bologna and then in Rome (1691-1694). He was appointed Physician to Popes Innocent XII and Clement XI, Teacher of Surgery and Anatomy at La Sapienza, Rome in 1696 and Professor of Theoretical Medicine in 1700. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in July 1698.
Baglivi conducted experiments on dogs and frogs, carried out autopsies and made microscopic examinations of muscle fibres and
the membranes surrounding the brain (the meninges
and dura mater
). He dissected such animals as lions, tortoises, snakes and deer, made morphological and physiological discoveries and experimented with toxic drugs. He felt that physicians had too easily become slaves to theories, systems and hypotheses. In keeping with the spirit of his times, he attacked the medico-philosophical systems, and instead emphasised the Hippocratic principles of sound clinical observation.
Being inclined towards mathematics and quantification in medicine, Baglivi viewed the physiological processes in mechanical terms, behaving like the parts of a machine. He was "a distinguished physiological researcher fascinated by the nerves, his microscopic studies enabled him to distinguish between smooth and striated muscles and distinct kinds of fibres."
His collected works, written in Latin
, enjoyed more than 20 editions, and were translated into Italian, French, German and English. The Académie Française
accepted him as "membre d'honneur". Baglivi was also a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia.
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
– June 15, 1707 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
physician and scientist, was born in poor circumstances at Ragusa in Dalmatia, his real name being Armeno. His family soon removed to Lecce in Apulia, and Giorgio took the name of his adopted father, a wealthy physician named Pier Angelo Baglivi. He made important contributions to clinical education, based on his own medical practice, and in De Fibra Motrice advanced the theory that the solid parts of organs are more crucial to their good functioning than their fluids.
Reputation
Baglivi travelled extensively in Italy, where he worked in hospitals in Padua, Venice, Florence and Bologna and in Holland and England (1688-1692). He was Assistant to Marcello MalpighiMarcello Malpighi
Marcello Malpighi was an Italian doctor, who gave his name to several physiological features, like the Malpighian tubule system.-Early years:...
first in Bologna and then in Rome (1691-1694). He was appointed Physician to Popes Innocent XII and Clement XI, Teacher of Surgery and Anatomy at La Sapienza, Rome in 1696 and Professor of Theoretical Medicine in 1700. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in July 1698.
Baglivi conducted experiments on dogs and frogs, carried out autopsies and made microscopic examinations of muscle fibres and
the membranes surrounding the brain (the meninges
Meninges
The meninges is the system of membranes which envelopes the central nervous system. The meninges consist of three layers: the dura mater, the arachnoid mater, and the pia mater. The primary function of the meninges and of the cerebrospinal fluid is to protect the central nervous system.-Dura...
and dura mater
Dura mater
The dura mater , or dura, is the outermost of the three layers of the meninges surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It is derived from Mesoderm. The other two meningeal layers are the pia mater and the arachnoid mater. The dura surrounds the brain and the spinal cord and is responsible for...
). He dissected such animals as lions, tortoises, snakes and deer, made morphological and physiological discoveries and experimented with toxic drugs. He felt that physicians had too easily become slaves to theories, systems and hypotheses. In keeping with the spirit of his times, he attacked the medico-philosophical systems, and instead emphasised the Hippocratic principles of sound clinical observation.
Being inclined towards mathematics and quantification in medicine, Baglivi viewed the physiological processes in mechanical terms, behaving like the parts of a machine. He was "a distinguished physiological researcher fascinated by the nerves, his microscopic studies enabled him to distinguish between smooth and striated muscles and distinct kinds of fibres."
His collected works, written in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, enjoyed more than 20 editions, and were translated into Italian, French, German and English. The Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
accepted him as "membre d'honneur". Baglivi was also a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia.
Published works
- De praxi medica ad priscam observandi rationem ravocanda, (Rome, 1696), trans. as The Practice of Physick, London, 1704)
- De fibra motrice, et morbosa, nec non de experimentis, ac morbis salivae, bilis et sanguinis, (Perugia, 1700)
- Specimen quatuor libroum de fibra motrice et morbosa, (Rome, 1702)
- Canones de medicina solidorum ad rectum statices usum, (Rome, 1704)
- Opera omnia medico-practica et anatomica, (Lyons, 1704; new enlarged ed., 1710)
See also
- List of Italians
- Republic of RagusaRepublic of RagusaThe Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...
- List of notable Ragusans
- DubrovnikDubrovnikDubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
- DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
- History of DalmatiaHistory of DalmatiaThe History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, stretching from the 2nd century BC up to the present....
Further reading
- A. Toscano, Catalogo delle Carte di Giorgio Baglivi conservate nella Waller Samling presso Universitetsbiblioteket <
> di Uppsala, in “NUNCIUS”, a. IX (1994), fasc. 2, pp. 683–738 - A. Toscano (ed.), G. Baglivi Carteggio (1679–1704). Conservato nella Waller Collection presso la University Library <
> di Uppsala, "Archivio della Corrispondenza degli Scienziati Italiani", 14, Firenze, Leo S. Olschki, 1999
- A. Toscano, Mirabilis Machina. Il “perpetuum mobile” attraverso il ‘De statice aeris’ e il ‘De fibra motrice et morbosa’ di Giorgio Baglivi, Cosenza, Edizioni Brenner, 2004
- A. Toscano, Giorgio Baglivi e la Comunità scientifica europea tra razionalismo e illuminismo, in Atti del Convegno: Alle origini della biologia medica. Giorgio Baglivi tra le due sponde dell’Adriatico, in “Medicina nei secoli”, n.s., vol. 12, n. 1 (2000), p. 49-79
- A.Toscano, ‘Il Movimento agente universale’. Il moto armonico del cosmo e la macchina dei fenomeni vitali: Giorgio Baglivi ed il ‘De statice aeris’ , © Anna Toscano-www.storiadellascienza.it, 2008, http://www.storiadellascienza.it/movimento_agente.php.html
External links
- http://www.baglivi.net