French Paracelsians

The scientific revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is normally characterised in terms of astronomy and the physics of motion. In The French Paracelsians, first published in 1992, Allen Debus narrates an important episode whose contribution to the scientific revolution has been largely ignored: the long-standing contention between Paracelsians and Galenists. Shortly after the medical authority of Galen had been re-established during the Renaissance, Paracelsus, a Swiss-German firebrand, proposed a new approach to natural philosophy and medicine - through chemistry. The resulting debate between Paracelsians and Galenists lasted more than a century, embroiling medical establishments across Europe. In France the debate was particularly bitter, with the Medical Faculty in Paris determined to keep out of all fields of chemistry medicine. Debus elucidates this important polemic, not only in regard to Paracelsian pharmaceutical chemistry and clinical cosmology, but also the development of chemical physiology, and its struggle with seventeenth-century medicine dominated by mechanical philosophy.

"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, "...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 masterly study...." Thomas S. Willard, Studies in Hermeticism