The Singular and the Making of Knowledge at the Royal Society of London in the Eighteenth Century

Sinopse (Em inglês)

The central subject of this book is the status of singular experiences in the making of natural knowledge at the Royal Society of London in the eighteenth century. It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the importance of the reporting and display of extraordinary phenomena at the Royal Society in this period, and shows that the success of these practices was largely based on their multiple roles within the Society, where singular experiences not only promoted natural historical and medical knowledge but also played a social and epistemological role. However, singular experiences were problematic in terms of authentication and the book reveals how eighteenth-century literary satires made the Royal Society an easy and favoured target for their interest in them. The book demonstrates the variety and intricacy of elements involved in the making and circulation of natural knowledge in the period. It provides an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to the place of the singular in one of the oldest and most import scientific institutions in the world.

Índice (Inglês)

• List of Illustrations, IX
• List of Tables, XI
• Abbreviations, XII
• Notes on sources and conventions, XIII
• Acknowledgments, XIV
• Preface, XV
• Introduction, p. 1
• Chapter One, The Singular and the Nature of Experience, p. 17
  • The Place of the Singular in Natural Histories, p.20
  • The Form and Language of the Reports, p.24
  • The Authorship of the Reports, p.32
  • The Singular and the Map of Knowledge, p.36
• Chapter Two, The Singular and the Culture of Curiosity, p.43
  • Exhibition of Curiosities of Nature at the Meetings, p.46
  • Curiosities of Nature and Sociability, p.51
  • The Economy of Curiosity, p.55
  • The Cabinet of Curiosities, p.59
• Chapter Three, The Epistemology of Extraordinary Facts, p. 67
  • The Embellishment of the Singular, p. 69
  • The Depiction of Singularity, p. 71
  • Testimony and the Singular, p. 78
  • The Limits of Validation, p. 87
• Chapter Four, The Ridiculing of Extraordinary "Facts", p. 91 
  • The Science of Triviality, p. 93
  • The Lack of Decorum, p. 98
  • The Absence of Credibility, p. 105
  • The Imperative of Change, p. 111
• Chapter Five, The Singular and Medical Inquiry, p. 119 
  • Monstrous Births, Medical Authority and Expertise, p. 120
  • Monstrous Births as Physiological Evidence, p. 123
  • Monstrous Births and the Natural Order, p. 125 
  • The Nature of Human Hermaphrodites, p. 132 
• Conclusion, p. 145 
• Appendix A, p. 151
• Appendix B, p. 165 
• Bibliography, p. 173
  • Manuscripts 
  • Primary Literature  
  • Secondary Literature  
•  Index, p. 209