Elements of Descartes’ Medical Scientia: Books, Medical Schools, and Collaboration

In 1643 Johannes van Beverwijck (1594-1647) contacted René Descartes (1596-1650) to ask a Latin version of his demonstration of the circulation of blood to contribute to Epistolicae quaestiones (1644). Van Beverwijck was a physician in Dordrecht and since 1635 a professor of medicine and anatomy at the Illustrious School therein. In 1611 he matriculated at Leiden University, where he studied medicine, and in 1616 he matriculated at Padua, where he graduated under the supervision of Hieronimus Fabricius ab Aquapendente (1533-1619). Besides its role in publishing the dispute between Descartes and Plemp on the circulation of blood, this exchange is emblematic of Descartes’ connection with Dutch scholars and physicians who were trained at the Medical Faculty at Leiden University, and in some other cases at the Medical School of Padua. In developing his medical knowledge immersed in the Dutch enthusiasm for the anatomy lessons, a connection with the medical faculties of Leiden and Padua mediated by his collaborations surfaces as a meaningful element in shaping his medical science.