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Article: Helmont, Jean Baptiste Van (1579–1644; also Known as Johannes von Helmont)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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HELMONT, JEAN BAPTISTE VAN (1579
–
1644; also known as Johannes von Helmont)
HELMONT, JEAN BAPTISTE VAN
(1579
–
1644; also known as Johannes von Helmont), Flemish chemist. Born at Brussels, Helmont studied at the University of Louvain, where dissatisfaction with the curriculum in philosophy led him to pursue medicine. He obtained a medical degree in 1599 but soon grew critical as well of ancient medical authorities. After seven years of travel and independent study he emerged as an iatrochemist, mixing chemistry with natural philosophy and medicine. In this regard Helmont followed in the tradition of Paracelsus, although with notable differences. He rejected symbolic ...