Event Description
What if doctors got sick? How did early modern medical practitioner’s experience of eye ailments shape their understanding of vision and observation? This paper discusses a kind of medical encounter that was the doctor’s encounter with their own body or their fellow doctor’s body, and focuses in particular on their experience of visual disorders. While observation was rising to be an important way of medical knowing, visual disorders called into question the reliability and trustworthiness of the sense of sight. This paper delves into the tension between the belief in and doubt of the certainty of vision through medical practitioner’s investigation of the pathology of the eye.
The history of science workshop provides historians of science in the New York City area with a collegial, informal environment to share works-in-progress. Presenters circulate a paper a week in advance and discuss it with workshop attendees.
Event Speaker
Wenrui Zhao, Graduate Student in History at Columbia University
Event Information
This event is free and open to the public. To register and receive a copy of a paper, please email Sean O'Neil at [email protected].
This event is part of the New York History of Science Lecture Series.
Sponsoring Organizations:
- The University Seminars at Columbia University
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study
- The Graduate Center, City University of New York
- The New York Academy of Medicine
- The New York Academy of Sciences
The Center for Science and Society makes every reasonable effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend a Center for Science and Society event, please contact us at [email protected] or (212) 853-1612 at least 10 days in advance of the event. For more information, please visit the campus accessibility webpage.
