The dosage makes it either a poison or a remedy.
Paracelsus
Paracelsus, born Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim in Einsiedeln, Switzerland (1493), became a wandering physician, alchemist, and radical thinker. Educated in Basel and Ferrara, he scorned universities, preferring knowledge from miners, healers, and folk traditions. He pioneered toxicology, declaring “the dose makes the poison,” and emphasized chemistry’s role in medicine. His Great Surgery Book (1536) and clinical description of syphilis (1530) marked milestones. Paracelsus lectured in German, defying Latin convention, and attacked Galenic orthodoxy. Though eccentric and often impoverished, he inspired Paracelsianism, a medical movement blending observation, alchemy, and theology. He died in Salzburg in 1541, leaving a legacy of bold innovation.
“The highest degree of a medicine is Love.”
