This rich record of the major interests of Paracelsus and other 16th-century chemical philosophers covers chemistry and nature in the Renaissance, Paracelsian debates, theories of Fludd, Helmontian restatement of chemical philosophy, and other fascinating aspects of the era. Well researched, compellingly related study. 36 black-and-white illustrations.
Revised republication in one volume of The Chemical Philosophy: Paracelsian Science and Medicine in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (2 vols.), published by Science History Publications, a division of Neale Watson Academic Publications, New York, 1977.

Table of Contents for The Chemical Philosophy

Volume I
LIST OF PLATES
PREFACE TO DOVER EDITION
PREFACE
1 CHEMISTRY AND NATURE IN THE RENAISSANCE
The Chemical Heritage: Alchemy in Antiquity
Islamic Alchemy
The Latin Alchemy of the West
Medieval Medical Chemistry: The Analysis of Spa Waters
The Chemically Prepared Medicines
Renaissance Factors: The Educational Problem
The Hermetic Revival and the Study of Nature
"Magic, Mathematics, and Nature"
Paracelsus: The Man
The Paracelsian System
Conclusion
2 THE CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY
The Paracelsian Universe
"Paracelsian "Mathematics"
Chemistry and the New Science
Chemical Theory and the Elements
Chemistry and the Geocosm
The Microcosm and Medical Theory
The Chemical Analysis of Spa Waters
The New Medicines
The Basilica chymica of Oswald Crollius (1609)
Conclusion
3 THE PARACELSIAN DEBATES
Synthesis and Reaction: The Work of Severinus
The Search for Common Ground: Albertus Wimpenaeus (1569) and Guinter von Andernach (1571)
French Paracelsism in the Late Sixteenth Century
The Paris Confrontation (1603)
The English Solution
The College of Physicians and the Pharmacopoeia (1618)
The Agreement and Disagreement of Daniel Sennert (1619)
Conclusion
4 THE SYNTHESIS OF ROBERT FLUDD
Robert Fludd and the Rosicrucian Problem (1617)
The Fluddean Philosophy
The Initial Reaction in England (1618-1623)
Fludd and Kepler (1619-1623)
Fludd and the French Mechanists (1623-1633)
Fludd and the Weapon-Salve Controversy (1631-1638)
Conclusion
Volume II
5 THE BROKEN CHAIN: THE HELMONTIAN RESTATEMENT OF THE CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY
Van Helmont: The Early Years
The Tract on the Weapon-Salve (1621)
The Letters to Mersenne (1630-1631)
Van Helmont's Final Years (1631-1644)
The Helmontian Philosophy of Nature: Mathematics and Motion
The Elements and the Principles
Chemistry as the Key to Nature
Quantification: A New Chemical Tool
The Vacuum and the Magnal
A Model for the Geocosm
The Mineral Kingdom
The Chemical Geocosm of Edward Jorden (1631)
Helmontian Medicine: The Divine Office of the Physician
The Theory of Disease
Tartaric Disease
Chemical Inquiries: The Search for the Vital Spirit
A New Concept of Dige
The Chemical Remedies
A Challenge for the Future
6 "THE CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY IN TRANSITION: NATURE, EDUCATION, AND STATE"
Educational Reform: Background
John Webster and the Academiarum examen (1654)
The Vindiciae academiarum of John Wilkins and Seth Ward
Thomas Hall's Whip for Webster (1654)
Chemistry and the State: The Agricultural Problem
Agricultural Chemistry in Seventeenth-Century England
Chemistry and Economic Policy: Johann Rudolph Glauber
The Prosperity of Germany (1656-1661)
Conclusion
7 THE CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY IN TRANSITION: TOWARD A NEW CHEMISTRY AND MEDICINE
Chemistry in Mid-Century: Lefévre (1660) and Rhumelius (1648)
Geocosmic Considerations: F.M. van Helmont (1685) and John Webster (1671)
J.J. Becher's Pysica subterranea (1669)
G. E. Stahl and Chemical Tradition
The Chemical Corpuscularians: Walter Charleton and the Chemical Philosophy
"The "Helmontian" Robert Boyle"
The Analysis Problem
The Nitro-Aerial Particles in Mid-Century
The Acid-Alkali Theory after van Helmont
Chemistry and Late-Seventeenth-Century Medicine: The Chemical Medicine of Noah Biggs (1651)
Chemistry and the London College of Physicians
Chemistry and the Blood
The Chemical Medicine of Willis and Sylvius
A Newtonian Postscript
Conclusion
8 POSTSCRIPT
The Chemical Philosophy in Retrospect
Acceptance and Rejection: The Question of Influence
Aftermath
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ERRATA

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