Gender and Scientific Discourse in Early Modern Culture

In the wake of new interest in alchemy as more significant than a bizarre aberration in rational Western European culture, this collection examines both alchemical and medical discourses in the larger context of early modern Europe. How do early scientific discourses infiltrate other cultural domains such as literature, philosophy, court life, and the conduct of households? How do these new contexts deflect scientific pursuits into new directions, and allow a larger participation in the elaboration of scientific methods and perspectives? Might there have been a scientific subculture, particularly surrounding alchemy, which allowed women to participate in scientific pursuits long before they were admitted in an investigative capacity into official academic settings? This volume poses those questions, as a starting point for a broader discussion of scientific subcultures and their relationship to the restructuring and questioning of gender roles. Introduction Gender and Scientific Discourse in Early Modern Culture, Kathleen P. Long; Chapter 1 Pico, Paracelsus, and Dee: The Magical Measure of Human Perfectibility, Eliott M. Simon; Chapter 2 Guillaume Postel, the Shechinah, and the Feminine Principle, Alain Ekorong; Chapter 3 Odd Bodies: Reviewing Corporeal Difference in Early Modern Alchemy, Kathleen P. Long; Chapter 4 “Put Out of Her Course” : Images of the Monstrous in de Bry’s Illustrations of Atalanta fugiens and the America, Sean Teuton; Chapter 5 The Animal Within: Chivalry, Monstrosity, and Gender in Renaissance Spain, Simone Pinet; Chapter 6 Experiments with Alchemy: Caterina Sforza in Early Modern Scientific Culture, Meredith K. Ray; Chapter 7 Madame de la Martinville, Quercitan’s Daughter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Manuscript Representations of Women Alchemists, Penny Bayer; Chapter 8 Women and Chymistry in Early Modern England: The Manuscript Receipt Book (c. 1616) of Sarah Wigges, Jayne Elisabeth Archer; Chapter 9 Cats on a Windowsill: An Alchemical Study of Marie de Gournay, Dorothea Heitsch; Chapter 10 Whither Childbearing: Gender, Status, and the Professionalization of Medicine in Early Modern France, Bridgette Sheridan; Chapter 11 Touching and Telling: Gendered Variations on a Gynecological Theme, Kirk D. Read;