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CORVALLIS, Ore. - The use of animals in scientific experimentation through the centuries is the focus a workshop on April 1 at Oregon State University, where several scholars will discuss the history and implications of such usage.

The workshop, "Experimenting with Animals from Antiquity to the Enlightenment," runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Valley Library's Willamette Industries Seminar Rooms. A public lecture will be held March 31 in conjunction with this workshop.

Animal experimentation has been part of scientific method since antiquity, and from the outset it has raised ethical and scientific questions about life, animal suffering, and the reliability of knowledge acquired. The aim of this workshop is to address how these issues were dealt with in the pre-modern era, with a special emphasis on the technical, anatomical, and philosophical sides.

The full workshop schedule is available at: http://oregonstate.edu/cla/history/experimenting-animals-workshop

Domenico Bertoloni Meli of Indiana University, Bloomington, will deliver the keynote address, "Of Snails and Horsetails," on Thursday, March 31, at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Journey Room. A public reception will follow. Meli has widespread research interests, including 16th- to 18th-century mathematics and mechanics, and medicine in the Scientific Revolution.

The workshop and lecture are made possible through the Horning Endowment in the Humanities. For more information, contact the History Department at 541-737-8560 or visit www.oregonstate.edu/cla/history