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Boerhaave and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Medicine

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences
  • 24 Accesses

Synonyms

The Netherlands, Leiden University, Medical teaching, Boerhaave school, health, healing, body

Definition

Herman Boerhaave:

Leiden professor of chemistry, botany, and medicine

Hieronymus Gaubius:

Leiden professor of chemistry and medicine

Boerhaave school:

Pupils of Boerhaave and Gaubius who formulated a particular kind of medicine based on (1) physiology of the fluids and (2) vitalist principles.

Introduction

Herman Boerhaave was born in the Dutch village of Voorhout on 31 December 1668. His father was a pastor in the village and had destined his son to follow in his footsteps. To this end Boerhaave went to the Latin school in 1682 and Leiden University in 1685 where he studied philosophy, theology, and medicine. In 1690 Boerhaave finished his education with an oration on Cicero’s right interpretation of Epicurus’ maxim of the highest human good, which was awarded a gold medal. He obtained a medical degree from the University of Harderwijk in 1693. However, on a canalboat on...

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References

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Correspondence to Rina Knoeff .

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Knoeff, R. (2022). Boerhaave and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Medicine. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31069-5_539

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