This doctoral dissertation research project is a study of vision that traces the development of ophthalmology in early modern Europe. The research will use archival sources and historical analysis to investigate the ways in which the eye was studied, eye diseases were treated, and the knowledge of the eye was transmitted during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe. Knowledge of the eye not only formed a critical branch of medical and technological investigation, it was also of cultural and scientific significance. The project will capture a distinctive moment in European history, when the emergence of the strong interest in the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the eye corresponded to an intensified reflection on vision as the foundation of knowledge. The results of this project will be communicated through publications and pedagogical initiatives. The research products will be published as scholarly articles and as part of a dissertation; the researcher also has plans to write a book in an accessible style for both academic and general audiences alike. The results of this study will also be used to develop undergraduate curriculum and incorporated into learning activities for high school students that will bridge gaps between the sciences and the humanities.
