Standing on the shoulders of the medical and scientific giants that preceded him, Herman Boerhaave’s contributions—grounding medicine in the direct observation of disease processes, integrating Newton’s mechanics and experimental approach, integrating the achievements of the Renaissance anatomists, and developing a curriculum based on hands-on experience and study of the fundamental sciences—gave medicine its modern, rational form. Even recent medical advances, such as organ transplantation, brain surgery, and antibiotics, ultimately rest upon his accomplishments. Indeed, the rapid development of medical knowledge from the late 18th century until today would not have been possible without Boerhaave’s influence. Boerhaave helped the field of medicine abandon the mystical and irrational ideas it acquired during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance; he discerned the magnitude of Newton’s achievements and brought them to bear upon the field; he ensured that the study of human anatomy found its proper place in medical teaching and practice; and he taught these groundbreaking ideas to a host of eager students via the modern curriculum he developed. Although there were certainly other accomplished physicians and professors in his day, none did more than Boerhaave to modernize medicine. In short, we can credit Herman Boerhaave in large part for the life-serving achievements of modern medicine: Having established the intellectual foundations for these enormous advances, he was truly their fountainhead. —Richard G. Parker
Posted on: Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:03:47 +0000
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