Jean Baptiste van Helmont was the founder of the iatrochemical school which looked to chemical explanations of vital phenomena. He was a man of great intellectual curiosity and studied philosophy at Louvain. Disappointed with the content of the course he turned to law and after further disappointment decided to study medicine.

Van Helmont’s teaching revolved around two terms, Blas and Gas. He was much influenced by the doctrines of Paracelsus …