7 - Combining Atomism with Galenic Medicine: The Physiological Theory of Isaac Beeckman (1616-1627)

Summary

Abstract

Although he obtained a medical degree at the University of Caen in 1618, Isaac Beeckman never practised medicine. Instead, he developed an atomistic conception of Galenic physiology by discussing, throughout his notebook, the constituents and functioning of the living body. Interestingly, Beeckman applied his atomistic interpretation to the notion of temperament as the balanced proportion of elemental qualities, which defined the state of health. In this chapter, it is shown how his atomistic views on health and temperament amalgamated the Galenic theory of elements, mixture, and digestion. In appraising related interpretations of the body by late Renaissance novatores, Beeckman proposed an original theory of the organism, which put forward a mechanistic conception of metabolism as characterized by the rarefaction and condensation of atomic matter.

Keywords: Isaac Beeckman, matter theories, Renaissance, digestion, corpuscular philosophy, mechanism

In the last 30 years, historians of science have shown an increased interest in Isaac Beeckman's physical-mathematical approach to mechanism in the context of the ‘Scientific Revolution’. What we know about Beeckman comes from his notebook that reports his thoughts about experiments, tools, and scientific theories, which he discussed with his circle of friends including Descartes, Gassendi, and Mersenne, among others. However, Beeckman was not only a learned engineer, he was also trained in medicine, and obtained a medical degree from the University of Caen in Normandy in September 1618. He began to study medicine in 1616 in preparation for the dissertation defence at Caen, mostly by reading medical treatises at his hometown, Middelburg. At that time, Beeckman likely had access to these books through the library of his friend Philippus Lansbergen (1561-1632), a Dutch astronomer and Calvinist minister who lived in Middelburg from 1613. Among Beeckman's early medical sources, one can find – aside from Galen – a significant number of Dutch and French authors. In fact, Beeckman's first mention of a medical treatise points to the Universa medicina of the French physician Jean Fernel in 1613-1614, which he continued to study until at least 1621.

Beeckman's first inclination for French medical literature – as evidenced by the references to Fernel, Joseph du Chesne, Jean Tagault, Jean Riolan the Elder, and Guy de Chauliac – might have prompted his choice to obtain a medical degree in France.