Abstract
Introduction and Objectives
The publication of William Harvey’s De motu cordis in 1628 signified one of the just a few sentinel moments in both the history of science and medicine. By establishing a new paradigm of questioning and investigation of physiologic processes, the floodgates were opened for others to begin the methodical investigations of other organ systems and diseases. This chapter discusses the first modern attempt to understand the ancient malady of urolithiasis following Harvey by Johan van Beverwijck.
Methods
Johan (or Johanne) van Beverwijck was born in Dordrecht, Netherlands, in 1594 and was a student at Leiden University while finishing medicine at Padua in May of 1616. He was appointed a professor of medicine in 1643. His book Treatise on the Stone Showing the Origin, Symptoms, Occurrence, Prevention and Treatment of Stone and Gravel forms the basis for this review. Specifically scrutinized were van Beverwijck’s account of the new physiology and investigative methods introduced by Harvey, another fellow Paduan. Van Beverwijck published his Treatise on the Stone in Amsterdam originally in Dutch. The librarians at Leiden were able to provide a copy of the work translated into English.
Results
Van Beverwijck’s work on stone disease was widely disseminated and might have been the first significant addition to our knowledge of stone disease. The work was mentioned by such contemporary scholars as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Benjamin Franklin who each owned a copy of the work. Utilizing the knowledge of circulation of blood for the first time, van Beverwijck questions the authority of Galen and Hippocrates and suggests that the kidneys are filters. The kidneys do not function by sucking heat from the body to form stones. Van Beverwijck also quotes the anatomical observations of contemporaries that are performing autopsy upon stone sufferers and astutely describes human renal anatomy in some detail (first to link anatomy to stone formation). Though, like Harvey, he is unable to break the bonds of Galenism (or Aristotelian) completely, van Beverwijck clearly is following the correct pathway that would directly lead to the next generation of investigators in stone disease (Sydenham, Boerhaave, and Boyle).
Conclusions
Johan van Beverwijck was famous in his own lifetime for his many diverse publications, including an esoteric endorsement on the rights of women in education. His Treatise on the Stone represents the first truly modern bridge between the ancient myth-centric Greco-Roman type of stone disease consideration to the new and revolutionary physiology endorsed by William Harvey. The birth of modern stone disease can be directly linked to van Beverwijck’s publication in 1652.
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Moran, M.E. (2014). Van Beverwijck: The Bridge from Ancient to Modern. In: Urolithiasis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8196-6_8
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