The XVI Century: Paracelsus from The Economist (Jan 19th 2006)

PARACELSUS, or Philip Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, is one of the oddest and most intriguing figures of late medieval European history. Part doctor, part alchemist, theologian and prolific writer, he was also a querulous braggart who fell out regularly with his patrons, antagonising those who tried to help him, which may explain why he never stayed in one place for long.
Born in Switzerland in 1493, a year after Christopher Columbus journeyed to the New World, Paracelsus travelled all over Europe, from the Arctic Circle to the Black Sea, healing the sick, preaching, occasionally teaching in universities and all the time writing books, almanacs and pamphlets. Many of the places he visited had been touched by the bubonic plague that swept Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, and he was fascinated by the legend of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. He was a great humanist who spent much of his time reading Plato and Aristotle. A self-taught expert on mining, he is often regarded as one of the fathers of modern chemistry, yet chemists don't always know what to make of him and are embarrassed by his rantings. …
http://www.economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5407627