Erasistratus of Ceos (c.320–240 BC) has been regarded by modern historians of medicine as one of the leading innovators of medical science in the early Hellenistic period. However, his anatomical physiology of a human being seems to have theoretical sources in some basic ideas from the tradition of Hippocratic medicine. His concept of ‘triple twists’ of imperceptible nerves, arteries and veins as the essential constituents of the human body suggests that Erasistratus, who had taken over the issue from the authors of the Hippocratic treatises On the Nature of Man and On Ancient Medicine, intended to put an end to the conflict between philosophy and medicine from the fifth century BC in favour of medical inquiry into human nature. Galen reports that Erasistratus criticized the cardiocentric model of the human body introduced by Praxagoras of Cos, who, opposing Hippocratic encephalocentrism, held that the heart, not the brain, is the control centre of human cognitive activities and voluntary motions. Erasistratus’ encephalocentric model with his concept of psychic pneuma as a mediun running through sensory and motor nerves stands in a line of theoretical development from Hippocratic encephalocentrism, as advocated by the author of the treatise On the Sacred Disease.

The faith of the Jesuits was not always in harmony with their scientific research. The Jesuits’ worldview changed following the suppression of their Order. Cases from Europe, Russia, and China are highlighted to support the thesis that the unexpected world-wide suppression of the Jesuits in 1773 pushed many Jesuits into new professional arenas where they tried to build their scientific fame. Beijing-based Jesuits were certainly among those who turned to new ways of thinking after their old Society finally lost the Chinese Rites Controversy following the Papal bull of 1742. The Jesuits’ political cir-cumstances rapidly deteriorated and the suppression of their Order followed in 1773. A bibliometrical analysis was used to provide statistical insight into the supposed move of Beijing Jesuits from being full-time preachers towards being at least part-time scientists.