The Traveling Anatomist

“Not just another run of the mill biography of a scientist but rather a master class in how to research, analyze, and present the academic life journey of a complex and intriguing interdisciplinary scholar… . Castel-Branco has delivered up, what is destined to become the definitive biography of a truly fascinating seventeenth-century interdisciplinary researcher, who made substantial contributions to the science of anatomy, as well as being a founding figure in the modern history of paleontology and geology. I recommend this book to any and everyone with an interest in the history of those disciplines or who simply enjoys first class history of science.”

* Renaissance Mathematicus *“A marvelously detailed account of the life and thought of Steno, one of the most significant but least-known figures of the seventeenth century, who used mathematics to understand muscles, made the first geological investigation of fossils, and convinced people that women have eggs. Deploying novel archival sources and taking us through a close reading of Steno’s life and times, Castel-Branco explores Steno’s place in the rich mosaic of European ideas, showing how he grappled with the power of anatomy and mathematics and their interaction with the pull of religion. Highly recommended!” – Matthew Cobb, author of “As Gods: A Moral History of the Genetic Age”“In this deeply researched book, we follow the young Steno through the courts, academies, and salons of Europe during the golden age of the new science. Castel-Branco offers a vivid tapestry of people, places, and things that conveys the excitement and complexity of this era.” – Anita Guerrini, author of “Experimenting with Humans and Animals: From Aristotle to CRISPR”“A new and truly impressive intellectual portrait of a protagonist of seventeenth-century science. Beautifully detailed in text and images, this intensively researched book traces Steno’s journeys across the intersecting disciplines, cultures, and religions of Europe at one of its most challenging and creative times. Whether anatomizing glands and muscles or explaining ovaries and fossils, Steno used what Castel-Branco calls ‘focused interdisciplinarity’ to pursue epistemic ‘certainty’ in a life-long devotion to incessant, open-ended inquiry.” – Gianna Pomata, coeditor of “Historia: Empiricism and Erudition in Early Modern Europe”