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Blood: From Humor to Hematology

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Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences

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Synonyms

Juice of life; Lifeblood; Sanguine humor; Vital fluid

Introduction

Today blood can be defined simply as the red liquid flowing through the arteries and veins of humans and other animals. But in early modern philosophy and science, blood acquired many different meanings: it transformed from being one of the four cardinal humors – believed to determine a person’s physical and mental qualities – into a raw material which was treated, studied, measured, and investigated. With the development of new methods and instruments, this vital fluid also came in a variety of shapes and sizes: it came to be understood as globules, as consisting of chemical elements, as having various temperatures and weights. Although medical treatments like bloodletting were slow to change, blood itself underwent a major revolution as the result of long and uncertain endeavors of study and experimentation. And considering the discovery of blood circulation as well as the development of hematology and blood...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Ruben E. Verwaal

  2. Heritage, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Ruben E. Verwaal

Authors
  1. Ruben E. Verwaal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ruben E. Verwaal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Dana Jalobeanu

  2. Dept. of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University Dept. Philosophy & Moral Sci, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

    Charles T. Wolfe

Section Editor information

  1. Early Modern Studies, Claremont Graduate University, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Gideon Manning

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Verwaal, R.E. (2020). Blood: From Humor to Hematology. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_271-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_271-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9

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