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The far-reaching debates arising from the
development of chemistry and its application to medicine during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are the subjects of this book.
Shortly after the medical authority of Galen had been reestablished in
the Renaissance, the Swiss-German firebrand, Paracelsus, proposed a new
approach to natural philosophy and medicine utilizing chemistry. The
resulting arguments between Paracelsians and Galenists lasted for more
than a century and affected the medical establishments of every European
country. In France, the confrontation was particularly bitter, with the
Medical Faculty in Paris determined to block the introduction of
chemistry to medicine in any field. The author discusses these issues
not only with respect to pharmaceutical chemistry and the chemical
cosmology of the Paracelsians, but also the development of chemical
physiology and its struggle with the brand of medicine influenced by the
mechanical philosophy of the seventeenth century. The academic
acceptance of chemistry is revealed, and the triumph of the mechanists
in the scientific academies is shown to have been only partial at best,
because the learned journals of the early eighteenth century continued
to review large numbers of books inspired by medical chemistry. This
persistent interest in medical chemistry is shown to be significant to
the Chemical Revolution and an aspect of the Scientific Revolution that
deserves recognition by historians.
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| Reviews |
"...a welcome addition to Allen Debus' studies of the Paracelsian
tradition in early modern Europe....As a work of intellectual history,
this book is successful. Debus agilely traces the complex development of
French Paracelsianism showing its relation to humanist medicine, to
Protestantism, and to the new philosophy." William Eamon, Renaissance
Quarterly, "...succeeds admirably in documenting the 'chemical
challenge' to both medical and scientific tradition in early modern
France. A very readable yet scholarly account, handsomely illustrated;
very interesting reading for undergraduates and academic specialists
alike." J.W. Dauben, Choice, "...a major contribution not only ot the
study of the history of medicine and the history of both medical and
non-medical chemistry but also to the history of science, the history of
ideas." Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, "Debus has
dramatically enriched our knowledge of Renaissance and modern science,
including themes and figures that traditional historians of science have
neglected. Thanks to Debus's studies, the relevance of individuals like
Paracelsus, Robert Fludd and Jean-Baptiste van Helmont to modern
science and philosophy is now recognised....The author draws on an
impressive array of documents...." Antonio Clericuzio, Times Higher
Education Supplement, "...describes the internecine warfare in a clear
and readable manner with just the right amount of quotation. The book is
written with great authority and I am sure it will be the definitive
account of this episode in the history of medicine for many years to
come." A. R. Butler, New Scientist, "...an important contribution to the
history of pharmacy and to some aspects of the early history of
chemistry and of medicine." Maurice Crosland, Nature, "Debus's use of
primary sources is exemplary (16 pages of references--may of them rare
and difficult to obtain). His work is a model of scholarship....The book
is an essential contribution to a better understanding of one of the
most difficult figures in medical history. It is a model of what might
be done with other threads of the Paracelsian corpus if one concentrates
on primary sources." Edmund D. Pellegrino, Quarterly Review of Biology,
...narrates an important episode whose contributions to the scientific
revolution has been largely ignored: the long-standing contention
between Paracelsians and Galenists....Debus shows how the purported
triumph of the mechanists in the scientific academies was partial at
best, recounting the osmotic acceptance of chemistry by the academies.
This persistent influence of medical chemistry was significant both for
the chemical revolution and as one of the driving forces behind the
scientific revolution, and deserves greater recognition by
historians.|9780521400497| |