Burchard de Volder

Burchard de Volder
Born 26 July 1643
Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Died 21 March 1709 (1709-03-22) (aged 65)
Leiden, Dutch Republic
Nationality Dutch
Fields Natural philosopher
Institutions University of Leiden
Alma mater University of Leiden
University of Utrecht
Doctoral advisor Franciscus Sylvius
Johannes de Bruyn
Doctoral students Herman Boerhaave

Burchard de Volder (26 July 1643 21 March 1709) was a Dutch natural philosopher.

Born in a Mennonite family in Amsterdam, he first studied in Utrecht (1660) and from 1670 he studied philosophy at the University of Leiden under Franz (Franciscus Sylvius) de le Boë (Dubois). 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.[1][2]

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

References

  1. 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
  2. The Leibniz-De Volder Correspondence, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013

External links


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