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39-483: It is also a medical term used for a premonitory symptom, that is, a symptom indicating the onset of a disease. The origin of the word is from the 19th century: via French from New Latin prodromus, from Greek prodromos forerunner. Nicolas Steno 's De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus , one of the early treatises attempting to explain the occurrence of fossils in solid rock. Ludovico Marracci 's Arabic edition and Latin translation of

78-519: A Corpus Christi procession in Livorno and wondered if he had the right belief. During his stay in Amsterdam, Steensen discovered a previously undescribed structure, the " ductus Stenonis " (the duct of the parotid salivary gland ) in sheep, dog and rabbit heads. A dispute with Blasius over credit for the discovery arose, but Steensen's name remained associated with this structure known today as

117-810: A discussion on the differences in composition between glossopetrae and living sharks' teeth, arguing that the chemical composition of fossils could be altered without changing their form, using the contemporary corpuscular theory of matter . Steensen's work on shark teeth led him to the question of how any solid object could come to be found inside another solid object, such as a rock or a layer of rock. The "solid bodies within solids" that attracted Steensen's interest included not only fossils, as we would define them today, but minerals, crystals, encrustations, veins, and even entire rock layers or strata . He published his geologic studies in De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus , or Preliminary discourse to

156-411: A dissertation on a solid body naturally contained within a solid in 1669. This book was his last scientific work of note. Steensen was not the first to identify fossils as being from living organisms; his contemporary Robert Hooke also argued that fossils were the remains of once-living organisms. Steensen, in his Dissertationis prodromus of 1669 is credited with four of the defining principles of

195-446: A geometrical model of muscles to show that a contracting muscle changes its shape but not its volume . Steensen was the first to describe the lateral line system in fish. In October 1666, two fishermen caught a huge female shark near the town of Livorno , and Ferdinando II de' Medici , Grand Duke of Tuscany, ordered its head to be sent to Steensen. Steensen dissected the head and published his findings in 1667. He noted that

234-495: A noblewoman of Lucca . Steensen traveled to Hungary, Austria and in Spring 1670 he arrived in Amsterdam. There he met with old friends Jan Swammerdam and Reinier de Graaf . With Anna Maria van Schurman and Antoinette Bourignon he discussed scientific and religious topics. The following quote is from a 1673 speech: It is not clear if he met Nicolaes Witsen , but he did read Witsen's book on shipbuilding. In 1671 he accepted

273-477: A reunification of the churches. Steensen worked at the city of Hannover until 1680. After John Frederick death's, Prince-Bishop of Paderborn Ferdinand of Fürstenberg appointed him as Auxiliary Bishop of Münster (Church Saint Liudger) on 7 October 1680. The new prince-elector Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover was a Protestant. Earlier, Augustus' wife, Sophia of Hanover , had made fun of Steensen's piousness; he had sold his bishop's ring and cross to help

312-515: A view to an eventual canonization . His canonization process was begun in Osnabrück in 1938. In 1953 his grave in the crypt of the church of San Lorenzo was opened as part of the beatification process. His corpse was transferred to a fourth-century Christian sarcophagus found in the river Arno donated by the Italian state. His remains were placed in a lateral chapel of the church that received

351-655: The Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence at the age of 37. Athanasius Kircher expressly asked what were the reasons why he decided to become priest. Steensen had left natural sciences for education and theology and became one of the leading figures in the Counter-Reformation . Upon request of Duke Johann Friedrich of Hanover , Pope Innocent XI made him Vicar Apostolic for

390-505: The Italian Marco Aurelio Severino of Naples. According to Bartholin, Severino was the first to present the use of freezing mixtures of snow and ice (1646), and Thomas Bartholin initially learnt about the technique from him during a visit to Naples. Bartholin–Patau syndrome , a congenital syndrome of multiple abnormalities produced by trisomy 13 , was first described by Bartholin in 1656. Caspar Bartholin

429-703: The Lutheran faith, he nevertheless questioned its teachings, something which became a burning issue when confronted with Catholicism while studying in Florence . After making comparative theological studies, including reading the Church Fathers and by using his natural observational skills, he decided that Catholicism, rather than Lutheranism, provided more sustenance for his constant inquisitiveness. In 1667, Steensen converted to Catholicism on All Souls' Day , influenced, among others, by Lavinia Cenami Arnolfini,

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468-637: The Qur’an was published in 1698. His ‘Introduction’ ( Prodromus ) had been published seven years earlier. Other notable prodromi include Prodromus Entomology , Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen , Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis . This science article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Nicolas Steno Niels Steensen ( Danish : Niels Steensen ; Latinized to Nicolas Steno or Nicolaus Stenonius ; 1 January 1638 – 25 November 1686 [ NS : 11 January 1638 – 5 December 1686] )

507-828: The Royal Society . After travelling through France, he settled in Italy in 1666 – at first as professor of anatomy at the University of Padua and then in Florence as in-house physician of Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando II de' Medici , who supported arts and science and whom Steensen had met in Pisa . Steensen was invited to live in the Palazzo Vecchio ; in return he had to gather a cabinet of curiosities . Steensen went to Rome and met Pope Alexander VII and Marcello Malpighi , whom he admired. On his way back he watched

546-485: The Stensen's duct . In Leiden, Steensen studied the boiled heart of a cow, and determined that it was an ordinary muscle . and not the center of warmth as Galenus and Descartes believed. In Florence , Steensen focused on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction . He became a member of Accademia del Cimento and had long discussions with Francesco Redi . Like Vincenzo Viviani , Steensen proposed

585-499: The first law of crystallography , states that the angles between corresponding faces on crystals are the same for all specimens of the same mineral. Steensen's seminal work paved the way for the law of the rationality of the crystallographic indices of French mineralogist René-Just Haüy in 1801. This fundamental breakthrough formed the basis of all subsequent inquiries into crystal structure . Steensen's questioning mind also influenced his religious views. Having been brought up in

624-422: The lymphatic system . Bartholin visited the Italian botanist Pietro Castelli at Messina in 1644. In 1663 Bartholin bought Hagestedgård , which burned down in 1670 including his library , with the loss of many manuscripts . King Christian V of Denmark appointed Bartholin as his physician with a substantial salary and freed the farm from taxation as recompense for the loss. In 1680 Bartholin's health failed,

663-606: The shark's teeth bore a striking resemblance to certain stony objects, found embedded within rock formations, that his learned contemporaries were calling glossopetrae or "tongue stones". Ancient authorities, such as the Roman author Pliny the Elder , in his Naturalis Historia , had suggested that these stones fell from the sky or from the Moon . Others were of the opinion, also following ancient authors, that fossils naturally grew in

702-521: The 17th and 18th centuries: Thomas Bartholin's father, Caspar Bartholin the Elder (1585–1629), his brother Rasmus Bartholin (1625–1698), and his son Caspar Bartholin the Younger (1655–1738). Thomas Bartholin's son Thomas Bartholin the Younger  [ da ] (1659–1690) became a professor of history at the University of Copenhagen and was later appointed royal antiquarian and secretary to

741-431: The Elder, Thomas Bartholin's father; his brother Rasmus Bartholin; and his son Caspar Bartholin the Younger (who first described " Bartholin's glands "), all contributed to the practice of modern medicine through their discoveries of important anatomical structures and phenomena. Bartholin the Elder started his tenure as professor at Copenhagen University in 1613, and over the next 125 years, the scientific accomplishments of

780-587: The Nordic Missions on 21 August 1677. He was consecrated titular bishop of Titiopolis on 19 September by Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo and moved to the Lutheran North. In the year after he was made bishop, he was probably involved in the banning of publications by Baruch Spinoza ,. There he had talks with Gottfried Leibniz , the librarian; the two argued about Spinoza and his letter to Albert Burgh , then Steensen's pupil. Leibniz recommended

819-568: The Royal Archives. Thomas Bartholin was the second of the six sons of Caspar Bartholin the Elder, a physician born in Malmø , Scania , and his spouse Anne Fincke. Bartholin the Elder published the first collected anatomical work in 1611. This work was later augmented, illustrated and revised by Thomas Bartholin, becoming the standard reference on anatomy ; the son notably added updates on William Harvey 's theory of blood circulation and on

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858-503: The court of Queen Christina of Sweden in April–May 1652, before Bartholin, but delayed in writing about it until 1653 (after Bartholin). As a result, an intense priority dispute ensued. Niels Stensen or Steno became Bartholin's most famous pupil. Thomas' publication De nivis usu medico observationes variae Chapter XXII, contains the first known mention of refrigeration anaesthesia , a technique whose invention Thomas Bartholin credits to

897-714: The farm was sold, and he moved back to Copenhagen, where he died. He was buried in Vor Frue Kirke (Church of Our Lady). The Bartholinsgade , a street in Copenhagen, is named for the family. Nearby is the Bartholin Institute ( Bartholin Institutet ). One of the buildings of the University of Aarhus is named after him. In December 1652, Bartholin published the first full description of the human lymphatic system . Jean Pecquet had previously noted

936-674: The founders of modern stratigraphy and modern geology. The importance of Steensen's foundational contributions to geology may be gauged from the fact that half of the twenty papers in a recent miscellany volume on The Revolution in Geology from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment focus on Steensen, the "preeminent Baroque polymath and founder of modern geologic thought". Born to a Lutheran family, Steensen converted to Catholicism in 1667. After his conversion, his interest in

975-419: The lymphatic system in animals in 1651, and Pecquet's discovery of the thoracic duct and its entry into the veins made him the first person to describe the correct route of the lymphatic fluid into the blood. Shortly after the publication of Pecquet's and Bartholin's findings, a similar discovery of the human lymphatic system was published by Olof Rudbeck in 1653, although Rudbeck had presented his findings at

1014-505: The name of "Capella Stenoniana" . He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988. His feast day is 25 December. Steensen's life and work has been studied, in particular in relation to the developments in geology in the late nineteenth century. Thomas Bartholin Thomas Bartholin ( / b ɑːr ˈ t oʊ l ɪ n , ˈ b ɑːr t əl ɪ n / ; Latinized as Thomas Bartholinus ; 20 October 1616 – 4 December 1680)

1053-670: The natural sciences rapidly waned giving way to his interest in theology. At the beginning of 1675, he decided to become a priest. Four months later, he was ordained in the Catholic clergy on Easter Sunday in 1675. As a clergyman, he was later appointed Vicar Apostolic of Nordic Missions and Titular Bishop of Titopolis by Pope Innocent XI . Steensen played an active role in the Counter-Reformation in Northern Germany. His canonization process began in 1938 and Pope John Paul II beatified Steensen in 1988. Niels Steensen

1092-444: The needy. He continued zealously the work of counter reform begun by Bernhard von Galen . In 1683, Steensen resigned as auxiliary bishop after an argument about the election of the new bishop, Maximilian Henry of Bavaria and moved in 1684 to Hamburg . There Steensen became involved again in the study of the brain and the nerve system with an old friend Dirck Kerckring . Steensen was invited to Schwerin , when it became clear he

1131-454: The origin of tears as produced by the brain. Invited to Paris by Henri Louis Habert de Montmor and Pierre Bourdelot , he there met Ole Borch and Melchisédech Thévenot who were interested in new research and in demonstrations of his skills. In 1665 Steensen travelled to Saumur , Bordeaux and Montpellier , where he met Martin Lister and William Croone , who introduced Steensen's work to

1170-444: The post of professor of anatomy in the University of Copenhagen, but promised Cosimo III de' Medici he would return when he was appointed tutor to Ferdinando III de' Medici . At the beginning of 1675, Steensen decided to continue his theological studies, which he had begun even before his conversion, toward his ordination to the priesthood. After only 4 months, he was ordained priest and celebrated his first Mass on 13 April 1675 in

1209-501: The rocks. Steensen's contemporary Athanasius Kircher , for example, attributed fossils to a "lapidifying virtue diffused through the whole body of the geocosm", considered an inherent characteristic of the earth – an Aristotelian approach. Fabio Colonna , however, had already shown by burning the material to show that glossopetrae were organic matter (limestone) rather than soil minerals, in his treatise De glossopetris dissertatio published in 1616. Steensen added to Colonna's theory

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1248-685: The science of stratigraphy . His words were: These principles were applied and extended in 1772 by Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle . Steensen's ideas still form the basis of stratigraphy and were key in the development of James Hutton 's theory of infinitely repeating cycles of seabed deposition, uplifting, erosion, and submersion. Steensen gave the first accurate observations on a type of crystal in his 1669 book De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento (the Dissertationis prodromus ). The principle in crystallography , known simply as Steensen's law , or Steensen's law of constant angles or

1287-622: The street lived Peder Schumacher (who would offer Steensen a post as professor in Copenhagen in 1671). At the age of 19, Steensen entered the University of Copenhagen to pursue medical studies. After completing his university education, Steensen set out to travel through Europe; in fact, he would be on the move for the rest of his life. In the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists. These influences led him to use his own powers of observation to make important scientific discoveries. At

1326-464: The urging of Thomas Bartholin , Steensen first travelled to Rostock , then to Amsterdam , where he studied anatomy under and lodged with Gerard Blasius , focusing on the lymphatic system . Within a few months Steensen moved to Leiden, where he met the students Jan Swammerdam , Frederik Ruysch , Reinier de Graaf , Franciscus de le Boe Sylvius , a famous professor, and Baruch Spinoza . Steensen doubted Descartes's recently published explanation of

1365-539: Was a Danish physician , mathematician , and theologian . He discovered the lymphatic system in humans and advanced the theory of refrigeration anesthesia , being the first to describe it scientifically. Thomas Bartholin came from a family that has become famous for its pioneering scientists, twelve of whom became professors at the University of Copenhagen . Three generations of the Bartholin family made significant contributions to anatomical science and medicine in

1404-519: Was a Danish scientist , a pioneer in both anatomy and geology who became a Catholic bishop in his later years. Steensen was trained in the classical texts on science; however, by 1659 he seriously questioned accepted knowledge of the natural world. Importantly he questioned explanations for tear production, the idea that fossils grew in the ground and explanations of rock formation. His investigations and his subsequent conclusions on fossils and rock formation have led scholars to consider him one of

1443-476: Was born in Copenhagen on New Year's Day 1638 ( Julian calendar ), the son of a Lutheran goldsmith who worked regularly for King Christian IV of Denmark . He became ill at age three, suffering from an unknown disease, and grew up in isolation during his childhood. In 1644 his father died, after which his mother married another goldsmith. In 1654–1655, 240 pupils of his school died due to the plague . Across

1482-549: Was not accepted in Hamburg. Steensen dressed like a poor man in an old cloak. He drove in an open carriage in snow and rain. Living four days a week on bread and beer, he became emaciated. When Steensen had fulfilled his mission, some years of difficult tasks, he wanted to go back to Italy. Before he could return, Steensen became severely ill, his belly swelling day by day. Steensen died in Germany, after much suffering. His corpse

1521-430: Was shipped to Florence by Kerckring upon request of Cosimo III de' Medici and buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo close to his protectors, the De' Medici family. In 1946 his grave was opened, and the corpse was reburied after a procession through the streets of the city. After his death in 1686, Steensen was venerated as a saint in the diocese of Hildesheim . Steensen's piety and virtue have been evaluated with

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