Isaac Beeckman (1588 to 1637) was a Dutch philosopher and scientist who, through his studies and contact with leading natural philosophers, may have virtually given birth to modern atomism. Born in Middelburg in Zeeland to a strongly Calvinist family, he studied theology, literature and mathematics at Leiden and medicine at Caen, ran a candle-making business, and taught at Latin schools, ending as rector at Dordrecht from 1627. He was teacher and friend of Descartes, whom he interested in a corpuscularian approach to mechanics and a mathematical approach to nature. Rejecting Aristotle, he held that matter is composed of atoms, described inertia, and explained a pump by air pressure rather than horror vacui. He published little, and his journal was rediscovered in 1905.
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Source Isaac Beeckman (Wikipedia)
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Source Encyclopedia.com: Beeckman, Isaac (Encyclopedia.com)
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Source Isaac Beeckman (Wikipedia)Lead, nationalityQuote, Lead, nationality
was a Dutch philosopher and scientist
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Source Isaac Beeckman (Wikipedia)Biography, birthQuote, Biography, birth
Beeckman was born in Middelburg, Zeeland, to a strongly Calvinistic family
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1. Isaac Beeckman (Wikipedia)
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Isaac Beeckman (10 December 1588-19 May 1637) was a Dutch philosopher and scientist
Teachers, pupils, and Descartes
He himself was a teacher to Johan de Witt
Lead, tradition
was a Dutch philosopher and scientist
Biography, rector
From 1627 until his death at the age of 48 he was rector of the Latin school of Dordrecht.
Lead, nationality
was a Dutch philosopher and scientist
Biography, birth
Beeckman was born in Middelburg, Zeeland, to a strongly Calvinistic family
In Branch: Philosophy of Science, Work and legacy, atoms
Rejecting Aristotle, Beeckman developed, independent of Sebastian Basso, the concept that matter is composed of atoms.
In Group: Rationalist Empiricist And Idealist Philosophy Of Science, Work and legacy, atoms
Rejecting Aristotle, Beeckman developed, independent of Sebastian Basso, the concept that matter is composed of atoms.
View the SourceEncyclopedia.com: Beeckman, Isaac (Encyclopedia.com)
Encyclopedia.comInfluenced By: Lucretius, Biography, corpuscular theoryQuote, Influenced By: Lucretius, Biography, corpuscular theory
His early espousal of the corpuscular theory of matter was inspired mainly by the ancient engineers Hero of Alexandria and Vitruvius, by the physician Asclepiades, and, to a lesser extent, by Lucretius
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