{"id":4035,"date":"2025-07-23T12:41:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T17:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/?p=4035"},"modified":"2025-08-08T11:50:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T16:50:57","slug":"geologygeology-catholic-bishop-and-spirituality-featured-book-from-the-john-martin-rare-book-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/2025\/07\/23\/geologygeology-catholic-bishop-and-spirituality-featured-book-from-the-john-martin-rare-book-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Anatomy, geology, and spirituality | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

It\u2019s July and time for a beloved week in television: Shark Week. These sleek, weird, and beautiful apex predators are mesmerizing and also a little terrifying. But what do sharks have to do with medicine?<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, quite a bit\u2014thanks to Elementorum myologiae specimen [A Sample of the Elements of Myology] (1667)<\/em><\/a>, a work by 17th-century Danish physician, geologist, and Catholic bishop Niels Steensen (Latinized as Nicolaus Steno). His life and work gave us the anatomical-geological mashup we didn\u2019t know we needed.<\/p>\n

Born in Copenhagen in 1638, Steensen\u2019s early life was marked by fragility and curiosity. Surviving a mysterious illness of his own at age three, he grew up during a time of plague. The 1654\u20131655 outbreak claimed 240 of his schoolmates, a tragedy that likely shaped his deep interest in the natural world.<\/p>\n

Educated in the classical sciences, Steensen wasn\u2019t one to accept inherited wisdom. By 1659, he was already challenging long-held beliefs, questioning everything from the origin of tears to the nature of fossils.<\/p>\n

Steensen began his medical studies at the University of Copenhagen. Encouraged by his anatomy professor Thomas Bartholin<\/a>, he set off across Europe to study with the best minds of the time. His journey took him from Rostock to Amsterdam, Leiden, France, and finally Italy.<\/p>\n

In Amsterdam he studied under Gerhard Blasius<\/a>. There, he made his first major discovery: the parotid salivary duct<\/a>, now known as the Stensen duct. His meticulous dissections of animal heads revealed previously unknown structures, culminating in his 1662 publication Observationes anatomicae<\/em><\/a>, which redefined the anatomy of the salivary glands.<\/p>\n

His anatomical work didn\u2019t stop there. While studying cow hearts, Steensen came to a radical conclusion: the heart, long thought to be the seat of the soul and source of innate heat, was simply a muscle. In De musculis et glandulis<\/em> (1664)<\/a>, building on William Harvey\u2019s De motu cordis<\/em> (1628)<\/a>, he boldly declared, \u201cThe heart\u2026is nothing more than muscle,\u201d challenging centuries of Galenic and Aristotelian doctrine.<\/p>\n

It was in Italy in 1666 that Steensen had a fateful encounter with a shark. This moment would deepen his anatomical studies and spark a new scientific passion that helped lay the foundations of modern geology.<\/p>\n

A massive shark was caught near Livorno, and its head was sent to Steensen by order of Grand Duke Ferdinando II de\u2019 Medici<\/a>. During the dissection, Steensen noticed something striking: the shark\u2019s teeth looked exactly like \u201ctongue-stones<\/a>\u201d\u2014fossilized objects found far inland, long believed to be petrified dragon tongues. This observation sparked a new obsession: geology.<\/p>\n

Steensen\u2019s genius lay in his ability to connect disciplines. His insight\u2014that fossils were once-living organisms embedded in rock\u2014led to foundational principles in geology. In De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento<\/em> (1669)<\/a>, he laid out ideas that remain central to the field today, including the law of superposition and the concept that Earth\u2019s layers tell a readable history.<\/p>\n

Despite his scientific achievements, Steensen\u2019s life took a spiritual turn. In 1675, he became a Catholic priest and later a bishop. He served in various cities across northern Germany, embracing a life of poverty and religious devotion. He died in Schwerin in 1686 at just 48 years old. In 1953, during a canonization process, his remains were exhumed, though his cranium was mysteriously missing. In 1998, Pope John Paul II beatified him, honoring both his piety and his scientific legacy.<\/p>\n

Our copy of Elementorum myologiae specimen<\/em> is bound in limp vellum over paper boards. The cover has contracted over time, giving it a pronounced bow. The text block is made of sturdy paper with minimal foxing or staining. A few sections remain unopened at the top, untouched since the 17th century. And the smell? A sweet, cheesy aroma that might sound off-putting, but is oddly pleasant.<\/p>\n

\u223cFIN<\/em>\u223c<\/em><\/p>\n

TENO, NICOLAUS (1638-1686).\u00a0Elementorum myologiae specimen<\/em><\/a>. Printed in Florence by\u00a0“<\/em>the printing house under the sign of the Star<\/em><\/a>“<\/em>, 1667. 25 cm tall.<\/p>\n

Contact the\u00a0John Martin Rare Book Room<\/a> curator, Damien Ihrig, to see this book at\u00a0damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu<\/a>\u00a0or 319-335-9154.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Niels<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"diagram\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"book<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"shark<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s July and time for a beloved week in television: Shark Week. These sleek, weird, and beautiful apex predators are mesmerizing and also a little terrifying. But what do sharks have to do with medicine? Surprisingly, quite a bit\u2014thanks to Elementorum myologiae specimen [A Sample of the Elements of Myology] (1667), a work by 17th-centuryContinue reading “Anatomy, geology, and spirituality | featured book from the John Martin Rare Book Room”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":4036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,87],"tags":[513,515,512,511,514],"syndication":[37,157],"coauthors":[359],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4053,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4035\/revisions\/4053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=4035"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/needtoknow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}