An Alchemical Quest for Universal Knowledge by Georgiana D. Hedesan

Author:Georgiana D. Hedesan [Hedesan, Georgiana D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Modern, 17th Century, Science
ISBN: 9781317182146
Google: LiEFDAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-04-20T01:27:48+00:00

Gas in Van Helmont’s meteorological treatises. In Ortus medicinae, Gas first appears in Van Helmont’s meteorological treatises (ch. 13 ‘Progymnasma mete-ori’ and ch. 14 ‘Gas aquae’). Here it is linked with Van Helmont’s ‘anatomy’ of water at different temperatures. As already noted, Van Helmont essentially posited four states of water: ice, water, vapour and Gas.385

Van Helmont argued that when the vapour of water rose high in the atmosphere and encountered the exceedingly cold air residing there, it did not turn into water, but became further divided until it achieved minute proportions. This state of extreme fineness and invisibility he called Gas. In his view, Gas formed a relatively stable stratum of water particles above the clouds, a stratum which Van Helmont called Peroledes.386 He speculated that it was this Gas layer that constituted what we ordinarily call ‘sky’, and that it was the water of the Gas that bestowed it with its blue colour.

Van Helmont used his theory of the Gas stratum to explain meteorological changes. This layer of Gas was completely passive, but susceptible to activation by the blas of stars. This force effectively pushed the Gas back toward earth, where, in contact with the warmer air, it turned into clouds and rain.

Hence, in the meteorological treatises, Gas emerged simply as extenuated and invisible water. In Van Helmont’s view, this state could only be found in the inaccessible middle region of the air. Hence it was a concept that could not be tested in the laboratory; nevertheless, it played an important explanatory role in accounting for atmospheric changes.

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