María del Carmen Barrios is a third-year student at Stanford University, majoring in History and International Relations. Born of a Mexican father and Italian mother in Cincinnati, she grew up in Querétaro, Mexico and Bordeaux, France, where she first became acquainted with medieval history through the life story of local figurehead Eleanor of Aquitaine. Since then her range of historical interest has expanded to include early modern history of science and technology and historical geography. She is currently working on a project on Thomas Willis and his oeuvre, Two Discourses concerning the Soul of Brutes, and is constantly looking for fresh inspiration in the pages of Isis when not engaged in research at the Political Science department of Stanford University.