Chemical Heritage Foundation
Home Search Site Map Press Room Contact Us Website Manager
 About CHF  Helping CHF
Explore Chemical History  Collections & Exhibits  Library  CHF Publications  Classroom Resources  Research & Fellowships  Events & Facilities
 Event Information
Calendar of Events
Awards & Public Lectures
Conferences & Workshops
First Fridays
Science Café
Brown Bag Lecture Series
CHF Conference Center
How can I help CHF?
Return to
Calendar
Brown Bag Lecture: Hiro Hirai, "Matter and Life in the Natural Philosophy of Daniel Sennert (1572–1637)"
Date: 21 October 2008
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: 6th Floor Conference Room
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Free and open to the public.
Description:
Daniel Sennert, a professor of medicine at the Lutheran University of Wittenberg (Germany), tried to establish a synthesis of Aristotelian hylomorphism and Democritean atomism. He developed his idea of “living atoms,” especially in the fields of biology and embryology. The leading minds of the next generation of scholars, like Pierre Gassendi and Robert Boyle, eagerly read Sennert’s works. This talk explains Sennert’s conceptions of matter and life that provide the framework for Hiro’s research project at CHF.

Hiro Hirai is the Edelstein senior research fellow at CHF (2008–2009). He is particularly interested in early modern ideas on the origin of life. His first book, titled Concept of Seeds in Renaissance Matter Theories, was published in 2005 (Brepols: Turnhout). He is currently preparing his second book, Medicine and Philosophy in the Renaissance.
Contact Information:
For more information, please call 215-873-8289 or e-mail bbl@chemheritage.org.

Directions to CHF