On Thursday, May 6, 2004, 1:00 PM Barus & Holley (Room 168) Carl Zimmer will present a talk entitled:

"Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain and the Scientific Revolution"

as part of the Seminar Series

"Frontiers in the Interaction Between Physics and Biology"

Abstract:

Today we consider it obvious that our emotions, reason, memories, and consciousness emerge from the activity of our brains. Yet just 350 years ago, this would have been considered absurd. The brain, as one philosopher at the time wrote, was no more capable of thought "than a bowl of curds." In a burst of scientific brilliance in the mid-1600s, however, the brain's importance was recognized, giving rise to the new science of neurology. Surprisingly, the physical sciences--particularly alchemy and Galilean mechanics--played a crucial role in this breakthrough.  I trace their influence in the work of show will an extraordinary band of natural philosophers who worked closely together, including Christopher Wren and Robert Boyle, who in turn were led by the now-forgotten scientific hero Thomas Willis, the founder of neurology.