Burchard de Volder

Burchard de Volder (26 July 1643 – 21 March 1709) was a Dutch physician.

Burchard de Volder
Born26 July 1643
Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Died21 March 1709 (1709-03-22) (aged 65)
Leiden, Dutch Republic
NationalityDutch
EducationUniversity of Utrecht (M.A., 1660)
University of Leiden (M.D., 1664)
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Leiden
Theses
  • De Simplicitate Dei, Echo et Republica (1660)
  • De Natura (1664)
Doctoral advisorFranciscus Sylvius
Other academic advisorsJohannes de Bruin
Notable studentsHerman Boerhaave[1]

Biography

He was born in a Mennonite family in Amsterdam. He earned an M.A. in philosophy at the University of Utrecht under Johannes de Bruin in 1660. He earned his medical doctorate from the University of Leiden under Franciscus Sylvius in 1664.[2] Thanks to the efforts of the Volder, a physics laboratory at the University of Leiden was established in 1675. He collected measuring instruments of all kinds and performed many physics demonstrations, particularly those illustrating the discoveries of Robert Boyle. This laboratory was unique for its time. He is further famous as one of Gottfried Leibniz's most important philosophical correspondents.[3][4]

De Volder's work drew many foreign students. One of his most famous students was Herman Boerhaave.

References
  1. Gerrit Arie Lindeboom (ed.), Boerhaave and His Time, Brill, 1970, p. 7.
  2. Burchard de Volder (1664). "De Natura" (PDF).
  3. Paul Lodge, "Leibniz's Close Encounter with Cartesiansim in the Correspondence with De Volder", in Leibniz and His Correspondents Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-521-83410-4, pp. 162-192.
  4. The Leibniz-De Volder Correspondence, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.


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