Robert Fludd, also known asRobertus de Fluctibus, was born in 1574 in Bearsted, Kent. Fludd was a prominentEnglishParacelsianphysician,astrologer, mathematician,cosmologist,Qabalist,and Rosicrucianapologist. He was not a member of the Rosicrucians, as often alleged, but he defended their thoughts in theApologia Compendiaria of 1616.
He was the son ofSir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official (Queen Elizabeth I's treasurer for war inEurope) and obtained anMDfromUniversity of Oxford. Between 1598 and 1604 Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and theocculton the European mainland, but he is best known for his research in occultphilosophy. He had a celebrated exchange of views withJohannes Keplerconcerning thescientificandhermeticapproaches to knowledge - see Dr Harding's History of Scientists' collection.
Fludd was allegedly a member of the committee which drafted the great "King James" translation of the bible in 1611.
His Philosophy and Ideas
His philosophy is presented inUtriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia(Themetaphysical, physical, and technical history of the two worlds, namely the greater and the lesser, published inGermanybetween 1617 and 1621)
In 1618, Fludd wroteDe Musica Mundana(Mundane Music) which described his theories of music, including his mundane (also known as "divine" or "celestial")monochord. In 1630, Fludd proposed manyperpetual motion machines. People were trying to patent variations of Fludd's machine in the 1870s. Fludd's machine worked byrecirculationby means of awater wheelandArchimedean screw. The devicepumpsthe water back into its own tank.
Fludd also produced an influential diagram describing the process of perception used in the study of perception, consciousness and psychology. In this diagram, Fludd wanted to explain the nature of the perceptible world as being classified into the four realms of sensual, imaginable, intellectual and sensible. He describes how these realms are perceived by the psychological faculties which he classified in three pairs; science and imagination, conscience and reflection, and, memory and motive. The diagram shows the interplay and connection between the different psychological faculties within the psych and their relation to the perceptible world. The soul is described as being present in all the three parts of the psych, always as the intersection between a pair of psychological faculties. Conscience and reflection are also attributed rational, intellectual and human qualities. The frontal lobe is the residence of science and imagination that perceive the 'first element' of sense and image. The 'intellectual realm penetrates' to the centre and is grasped by conscience and reflection through their three qualities. At the back of the head, memory is dependent on motive to perceive 'fact' as sensible from the partially 'guarded' memory and vision.
His study of blood circulation
Fludd was the first person to discuss thecirculation of the blood, and did in fact arrive at the correct conclusion. His conclusion was based on themacrocosm-microcosmanalogy, a theory in which all occurrences in the microcosm (man) are influenced by the macrocosm (the heavens). His theory was that the blood must circulate because theheartis like thesunand the blood like theplanetsand, by this time, it was known that the planetsorbitaround the sun.William Harveylater explained the circulation of blood in more modern and experimental terms, though still referring to the macrocosm-microcosm analogy of Fludd. See Dr Simon Harding's article on Eminent Anatomists.
Robert Fludd never married and left no heirs when he died in London in 1637. However, as Craven ends his 1902 book, "The real successors of a writer like Fludd will be found in those who, assimilating his thoughts, and their results, hand on to others the encouraging hope that a time will come `when all the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.'
