Concept of gas (van Helmont)
Concepto de gas y gas silvestre (CO2)
- Date
- c. 1640 · confidence medium
- Place
- Vilvoorde, Brussels, Spanish Netherlands
- Credited to
- Jan Baptista van Helmont
- People
- 👤 Jan Baptista van Helmont1577–1644
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Van Helmont coins the word 'gas' and recognises that there exist airs distinct from common air, such as the gas sylvestre released by fermentation and the burning of coal. He also shows with a willow tree that plant mass does not come from the soil.
Ortus medicinae was published posthumously in 1648.
What it led to
- Pneumatic chemistry
- Plant physiology
- Mass balance in experiments
Built on
- Paracelsian alchemy