Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Jan Baptist van Helmont was a 17th-century Flemish chemist, physiologist, and physician who conducted early experiments on spontaneous generation. He is known for his willow tree experiment that contributed to the understanding of plant growth.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
Van Helmont is most famously associated with the idea of spontaneous generation, particularly through his experiments involving mice and dirty shirts.
In his willow tree experiment, van Helmont grew a willow tree in a pot for five years to study plant growth and concluded that plants grow primarily from water.
Van Helmont's work laid the foundation for later disproving spontaneous generation by scientists like Louis Pasteur.
He introduced the term 'gas' into scientific vocabulary, derived from the Greek word 'chaos'.
Despite his incorrect conclusions about spontaneous generation, van Helmont's experimental methods were an early form of controlled scientific experimentation.