Nahyan Fancy
Professor, History at DePauw University
From Greencastle, IN
From Greencastle, IN
My research interests are in pre-1500 science and medicine, and intellectual history. My earlier research has examined the intersections of philosophy, theology and medical physiology in the works of Ibn al-Nafis, a 13th century physician-jurist who first posited the pulmonary transit of blood. The significance of this result is that it forms the basis of William Harvey's (d. 1657) theory of blood circulation, three centuries later. More recently, I have been examining the evolution of medical commentaries in post-1250 Islamicate societies, with an eye towards learning more about the specific trajectory of theoretical medicine in Islamicate societies. I am also interested in the networks of exchange that gave rise to the appropriation of these Islamicate trajectories by Latin Europe during the Renaissance.
At DePauw, I teach courses in History of Science and the History of Middle East, such as Science and Medicine in Islamic Societies; History of Science: From Antiquity to the Renaissance; Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East; Sunnis, Shi'as and Mystics; Partition and Memory; Medieval Mediterranean Encounters; and a 2-course survey of the history of the Middle East from the 500 CE to the present.
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University of Notre Dame
Knox College
University Of Toronto Schools
Science and Religion in Mamluk Egypt: Ibn al-Nafis, Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection
The discovery of the pulmonary transit of blood was a ground-breaking discovery in the history of the life sciences, and a prerequisite for William Harvey’s fully developed theory of blood circulation three centuries later," notes a synopsis. "This book is the first attempt at understanding Ibn al-Nafīs’ anatomical discovery from within the medical and theological works of this thirteenth century physician-jurist, and his broader social, religious and intellectual contexts ... Breaking new ground by showing how medicine, philosophy and theology were intertwined in the intellectual fabric of pre-modern Islamic societies, Science and Religion in Mamluk Egypt will be of interest to students and scholars of the History of Science, the History of Medicine and Islamic Studies.
Publications
Nahyan Fancy was recognized for making the Dean's List
Fall 1994 - Winter 1996 -
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Nahyan Fancy was recognized for graduating
PhD (Honors) in History and Philosophy of Science
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Nahyan Fancy was recognized for graduating
MA in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
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Nahyan Fancy was recognized for graduating
BA, magna cum laude, Mathematics and Biochemistry
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Nahyan Fancy was recognized for completing College Honors
Knox-Howard Hughes Medical Institute Career Development Apprentice (1996), Faculty Scholarship Prize (1996), Phi Beta Kappa (1997), Mortar Board (1997), Biochemistry Prize (1997), Haring-Houston Award (1997), E. Inman Fox Prize (1997)
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