Beeckman's Corpuscular Study of Plants

In his Journal, Isaac Beeckman investigated plants by means of his corpus- cular and atomistic natural philosophy. These few notes specify Beeckman’s interest in the vegetal realm, which was not natural historical nor connected to botanical catalogues, but which concerned the inner structures and processes of vegetal bodies. This chapter explores Beeckman’s physico- mathematical approach to plants: his interest in the Touch-me-not plant, his work on medicinal simples, and his investigation of plant formation. Additionally, these notes posit a connection between Beeckman and Bacon, as he comments on a couple of the latter’s experiments on vegetal bodies, and Descartes, who discussed similar vegetal features. Beeckman’s corpuscular framework sparked the early modern approach to botany as a science.