Jean Baptist Van Helmont Jean

Jean Baptist van Helmont Jean Baptiste van Helmont (there are many ways to spell his name) was born in 1577 in Brussels, Belgium, into a noble family. He was educated at Louvain, just east of Brussels, at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He knew he enjoyed science, but could not settle on any particular area of science. He took up medicine and received his degree in 1599, at the age of 22. He then traveled throughout Europe, returning to his homeland to marry well and settle in Vilvoorde, near Brussels. At his home, he set up a laboratory and did experiments with chemicals. He also worked as a physician until he died, in 1644 (NNDB 1). Van Helmont was known as an "alchemist" or dabbler in chemistry and mysticism. Scientists in the 14th and 15th centuries were considered magicians and were sometimes feared for the results of their experiments. He was a faithful Catholic, but the Catholic Church became suspicious of his work when he published a tract about medicine and how one could cure wounds with magnets. He was charged by the Inquisitors and the fear of coming before the Inquisition caused him to cease publishing his findings. His son published his work after he died. One of the experiments van Helmont did challenged the ancient belief that all plants needed was good soil. He took a pot with soil that was dried and weighed before a willow was added and covered the soil so nothing could be added, such as dust. For five years all he added was water. At the end of those five years the willow weighed 164 pounds more than it did when planted while there were only a few ounces of soil lost. He concluded that water provided the plant with the nutrients that it needed, and not the soil. The loss of soil he put down to experimental process error. While he did not understand that plants also use carbon dioxide and minerals in the soil, he was able to call into question the idea that all plants needed was soil to grow (Quinn 1). His most valuable experiments concerned fermentation and gasses. To him digestion, nutrition and even movement are due to ferments, "which convert dead food into living flesh in six stages" (NNDB 1). Chemical principles guided him in the choice of medicines and he chose to apply alkali to acid digestive juices to affect internal change. However, he began to introduce supernatural agents into his theories, such as the archae of Paracelsus, which preside over bodily affairs and functions. He believed that diseases were caused by the archae being affected, so cures were attained by remedying and appeasing these supernatural forces. Van Helmont was one of the first scientists or alchemists to begin to understand and teach that the body is affected by chemicals and applied chemical principles to physiological problems. One of the main things that we may be grateful to van Helmont for is his development of the "scientific method," in which experiments are carefully documented and observed. Instead of using reason or thought to solve a chemical problem, one used practical application and created an experiment which sometimes might yield surprising results, results that were not available simply through the thought process. Van Helmont sought support for his theories in the Bible and teachings of the ancient philosophers, but when he did practical experiments he found that some results could not be accounted for by his theories. He did an experiment to produce gas, which he believed was in everything and could be released by heating. To prove this, he heated 62 pounds of charcoal and found only 1 pound of ashes remained. The rest, 61 pounds, he concluded, had changed into a spirit or "gas sylvestre" which could not be contained. He also burned organic matter, alcohol and fermented wine and beer, which all produced "gas sylvestre." Van Helmont concluded that our internal organs used fermentation and acid in the digestive process. Today we may be grateful to van Helmont for bringing the scientific method into practical application, through controlled experiments. His findings and theories on gases and the digestive process started experimentation and thinking along those lines in the application of medicine. He also introduced the concept of curing internal problems by treating them with chemicals, tailored according to the specific complaints which might arise in each individual. Van Helmont's theories put succeeding scientists on the right track to discovering how chemicals and gases work. Works Cited Edwards, Quinn. "Photosynthesis and Optimizing Algae Growth in a Bioreactor". Introduction to Biophotonics. Logan, Utah: Utah State University. 28 Apr 2006. . NNDB. Jan Baptist van Helmont. Soylent Communications. 2006. .