The anatomical- clinical method between mechanism and empiricism: Marcello Malpighi, Antonio Maria Valsalva and Giovanni Battista Morgagni

This consistent book has several strengths. The first is Zampieri’s effort to reunite three prominent scholars of the early modern period, Marcello Malpighi (1628–94), Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666–1723), and Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682–1771), who greatly contributed to the birth of modern anatomy and clinical pathology. The second is Zampieri’s encyclopaedic knowledge of Italian and European early modern medicine, as he also explores lesser-known medical areas and topics. The third is Zampieri’s synthesis of two centuries’ worth of discoveries, debates and scientific transformations, connecting medical knowledge to diverse disciplines, including natural history and natural philosophy. The book thus offers an outstanding and rich roadmap to medical science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.