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SUMMARY:Recalled into stalk and leaves: the many methods and meanings of e
 arly modern palingenesis - Karin Ekholm (Department of History and Philoso
 phy of Science)
DTSTART:20120213T130000Z
DTEND:20120213T141500Z
UID:TALK35073@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sophie Waring
DESCRIPTION:Seventeenth-century physicians and alchemists describe a broad
  range of methods by which they regenerated plants and animals from their 
 incinerated\nor boiled remains by processes known as 'palingenesis'. Amaze
 d witnesses describe a multitude of plant species grown in glass vials and
  fields in\nlocations ranging from Cracow to Rome to Dorset. This paper ex
 amines accounts of what they saw\, the processes by which they resurrected
  specimens\, references to others who participated in their experiments\, 
 and reflections on the implications of these marvellous phenomena. Their r
 eports largely cite predecessors' accounts and explain that while they wer
 e unable to replicate observations by the methods described\, they achieve
 d analogous results through using different techniques or materials.\nThe 
 many reports throughout the seventeenth century reveal patterns in the way
 s that proponents of palingenesis used the very variability between\ntheir
  observations to strengthen the credibility of their findings. While Rober
 t Boyle was unable to achieve the regeneration of plants in his laboratory
 \, this did not lead him to dismiss the process as impossible. Instead\, h
 e considers palingenesis among examples of 'unsucceeding experiments' that
  serve to shed light on challenges posed by experimentation\, especially o
 n (once) living beings. While witnesses’ accounts leave us to speculate 
 about what they actually saw\, the variations between their reports togeth
 er with Boyle’s reflections on problems of\nvariability in experiments p
 rovide fertile ground in which to explore why lack of replicability did no
 t entail impossibility.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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