Have you been waiting for an episode where we don't even pretend to talk about batteries? This is that episode. Welcome to 1730s Italy, where only one woman has a university degree, public dissections count as entertainment, and sometimes you have to get married to establish your independence.

Sources:

Science as a Career in Enlightenment Italy: The Strategies of Laura Bassi by Paula Findlen.  https://www.jstor.org/stable/235642

Laura Bassi and Science in 18th Century Europe - lecture by Monique Frize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZajUg18dbs

Anna Morandi’s Wax Self-Portrait with Brain by Rebecca Messbarger. https://rebeccamessbarger.com/brain.pdf

The Desire to Contribute: An Eighteenth-Century Italian Woman of Science by Gabriella Berti Logan. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2167770