Johannes Van Helmont

Johannes Van Helmont was a 17th-century Flemish scientist and alchemist known for pioneering early experiments in chemistry and biology. He is famous for discovering that plants grow mainly from water, not soil, through careful observations and experiments. Van Helmont contributed to understanding bodily functions, such as the importance of "gas" (later identified as gases like oxygen). His work helped shift science from mystical ideas to a more systematic, experiment-based approach, laying groundwork for future discoveries in medicine, biology, and chemistry.