The article sheds light on the invention of early modern precision instruments and their application in medicine, by analysing a neglected work by one of the Italian pupils of the physician Santorio Santori (1561–1636). This source provides vital information on Santorio’s experimental sample, and on the practical use and dimensions of instruments such as thermometers, hygrometers, pulsimeters and precision scales, showing that they also had a normative purpose: regulating the environmental factors affecting human health. The article first establishes the derivative nature of the source from Santorio’s teachings, and then contextualises the invention of precision instruments with regard to Santorio’s published and unpublished output. In the conclusions, I argue that the new instruments were meant to address the shortcomings of the traditional diagnostic rationale and are best conceptualised as ‘intensity meters’ meant to assess ‘the magnitude’ (magnitudo) of a patient’s illness in degrees.

中文翻译：

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强度计：早期现代精密仪器发明的新笔记和发现

本文通过分析医生桑托里奥·桑托里（Santorio Santori，1561-1636 年）的意大利学生之一被忽视的著作，阐明了早期现代精密仪器的发明及其在医学中的应用。该来源提供了有关圣托里奥实验样本以及温度计、湿度计、脉搏计和精密秤等仪器的实际用途和尺寸的重要信息，表明它们还有一个规范性目的：调节影响人类健康的环境因素。本文首先从圣托里奥的教义中确立了来源的衍生性质，然后将精密仪器的发明与圣托里奥已发表和未发表的成果联系起来。在结论中，我认为新仪器旨在解决传统诊断原理的缺点，最好将其概念化为“强度计”，旨在评估“强度”（马尼杜多）患者病情的程度。