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Jan Baptist van Helmont
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<p>Jan Baptist van Helmont was a <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a>, <a href="/facts/Physiologist/fh25y2pQ">physiologist</a>, and <a href="/facts/Physician/qJ3woFvG">physician</a> from <a href="/facts/Brussels/tNzHrQYP">Brussels</a>. He worked during the years just after <a href="/facts/Paracelsus/U6H7KEUs">Paracelsus</a> and the rise of <a href="/facts/Iatrochemistry/xH8XCm2p">iatrochemistry</a>, and is sometimes considered to be "the founder of <a href="/facts/Pneumatic_chemistry/EMyMKXPH">pneumatic chemistry</a>". Van Helmont is remembered today largely for his 5-year willow tree experiment, his introduction of the word "<a href="/facts/Gas/hVVAoodV">gas</a>" (from the Greek word <i>chaos</i>) into the vocabulary of science, and his ideas on <a href="/facts/Spontaneous_generation/bUVSjNam">spontaneous generation</a>. </p>