HistSTM March Madness—Musica Round 1

Whom Would You Most Like to Have Coffee With?

Musica Round 1
As in the Arithmetica division, here again some history of science heroes are going home after this round. Marie Curie takes on Averroes. Although Galen enjoys near mythical status in the history of medicine (except amongst teleologists who lambast him for a) his humoral medicine and b) claiming there were pores in the heart’s septum) he has to confront the truly mythical Hermes Trismegistus. Then we have the battle of the early modern English Williams: William Harvey against William Gilbert. Which will prove more powerful, the heart or the magnet? In the next matchup, Pythagoras and his mystical numbers run headlong into Ulisse Aldrovandi’s interest in the material here and now.

The Arabophile pope Gerbert of Aurillac takes on Ibn al-Nafis—will his ideas about pulmonary circulation be enough to overcome Gerbert’s brazen head? In a contest between heaven and earth, William Herschel and his telescope take on John Ray and his methodical classification of plants. Armed with a bottle of soda water and a mistaken theory, Joseph Priestly hopes to overcome Ada Lovelace with her plans for an analytical engine. Rounding out the Musica division, Johannes Kepler and Gerard of Cremona go head to head before one goes home.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to vote for match-ups in the Arithmetica division.