"Put a mark on the errors": Seventeenth-century medicine and science

Area of Science:

• History of Science
• Epistemology
• History of Medicine

Background:

• Error has been historically neglected as an epistemological category in science.
• The common perception of error as something to be eliminated has rendered it invisible.
• Early modern medicine (late 16th century) began focusing on "popular errors" to correct false beliefs about treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To trace the progression of scientific approaches to handling error in the early modern period.
• To examine the evolution of dealing with medical error from eradication to instrumentalization.
• To establish error as a distinct epistemological category driving knowledge production.

Main Methods:

• Historical analysis of scientific literature and practices from the late 16th and 17th centuries.
• Examination of key texts and figures, including Thomas Browne's "Pseudodoxia Epidemica" and the influence of Francis Bacon.
• Tracing the development of methodologies within natural philosophy and the Royal Society.

Main Results:

• By the mid-17th century, natural philosophers, influenced by physicians and Bacon, incorporated error analysis into their methodology.
• Thomas Browne's "Pseudodoxia Epidemica" exemplified a broad interest in popular error, moving beyond purely medical contexts.
• The Royal Society, influenced by Bacon, aimed to use error instrumentally to discover truth, revising traditional knowledge-seeking approaches.

Conclusions:

• Early modern scientific practice evolved to view error not just as something to eliminate, but as a catalyst for discovery.
• The study of error, especially medical error, became a significant driver for epistemological advancement.
• Error emerged as a distinct and valuable category in the history of science, essential for knowledge production.