Different shades of Newton: Herman Boerhaave on Newton mathematicus, philosophus, and optico-chemicus

In this paper I will probe into Herman Boerhaave’s (1668–1738)
appropriation of Isaac Newton’s natural philosophy. It will be shown that
Newton’s work served multiple purposes in Boerhaave’s oeuvre, for he
appropriated Newton’s work differently in different contexts and in
different episodes in his career. Three important episodes in, and
contexts of, Boerhaave’s appropriation of Newton’s natural philosophical
ideas and methods will be considered: 1710–11, the time of his often
neglected lectures on the place of physics in medicine; 1715, when he
delivered his most famous rectorial address; and, finally, 1731/2, in
publishing his Elementa chemiae. Along the way, I will spell out the
implications of Boerhaave’s case for our understanding of the reception,
or use, of Newton’s ideas more generally.

Keywords:Dutch Republic, Herman Boerhaave, Isaac Newton, History of Medicine, Newtonianism

CSS-citation score:1

Authors:International

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