The Methods Medendi Innovation in Giorgio Baglivi's Work

Abstract

The need to overcome the critical situation in the medical art of his time and to establish a unifying foundation for medicina urged Giorgio Baglivi to write his De praxi medica. His innovative methodus medendi was achieved by reinstating Hippocrates and adopting Francis Bacon's scientific method. A comparison with T. Sydenham's work evidnces further aspect of Baglivi's complex method, in which skepticism toward theoretical medicine is overcome and mechanist theories are embraced. In his solidistic work of physiopathology, De fibra motrice et morbosa, Baglivi goes deeper into the matter, applying to medical knowledge the new scientific concepts of Galilei, Bellini, Borelli, Torricelli, Mayow and Boyle.