Van Helmont, Jan Baptista

Lead Author: Cutler J. Cleveland (other articles)
Article Topic: Botany
This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Peter Saundry (other articles)
Last Updated: October 31, 2006

Jan Baptista Van Helmont (1577–1644), a Flemish physician, chemist, and physicist who made an important early contribution to our understanding of photosynthesis and chemistry. He performed a classic experiment where he measured the mass of a potted willow tree grown for 5 years in a tightly controlled environment. He discovered that the mass of the entire plant was far more than the weight of the displaced original 200 pounds of soil. This led him to reject the commonly held notion that plants were fed exclusively by the soil. He also discovered carbon dioxide and went on to distinguish gases as a class of substances (as contrasted with solids and liquids); he is credited with introducing the term gas in its present scientific sense.

Further Readings
J. Van Helmont- Chemistry Chronicle (Today's Chemist at Work)
History of Chemistry (historyworld.net)

Citation
Cleveland, Cutler (Lead Author); Peter Saundry (Topic Editor). 2006. "Van Helmont, Jan Baptista." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [Published in the Encyclopedia of Earth October 31, 2006; Retrieved February 9, 2010]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Van_Helmont,_Jan_Baptista>
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