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[[File:Demoncritus Reviviscens title page.jpg|thumb|Title page of ''Democritus reviviscens'' (1646).]]
[[File:Demoncritus Reviviscens title page.jpg|thumb|Title page of ''Democritus reviviscens'' (1646).]]
He joined the medical faculty at the [[University of Pavia]], where he published his scientific work ''Democritus reviviscens'' in 1646.
He joined the medical faculty at the [[University of Pavia]], where he published his scientific work ''Democritus reviviscens'' in 1646.
He cited [[Daniel Sennert]], but his ideas were distinct from Sennert's and those of Democritus. He considered that atoms were the indivisible parts of three of the [[classical elements]]: earth, water and fire.<ref>Daniel Garber, Michael Ayers (editors), ''The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy'', Volume 1 (2003), p. 556; [https://books.google.com/books?id=BPlkkgIhUXIC&pg=PA556 Google Books].</ref> In 1646, Magnenus estimated a lower bound for the number of atoms in a piece of incense "not larger than a pea".<ref> {{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/concept-of-law-and-models-in-chemistry/56E82B06C3EDF7E23EFDF399079B1877/core-reader|title=The Concept of Law and Models in Chemistry|website=cambridge.org|access-date=2019-06-20}}</ref> His value of 7.776 × 10^17 is off by a factor of one million, but that is still quite impressive as the modern value was not determined until 1865 by [[Josef Loschmidt]].
He cited [[Daniel Sennert]], but his ideas were distinct from Sennert's and those of Democritus. He considered that atoms were the indivisible parts of three of the [[classical elements]]: earth, water and fire.<ref>Daniel Garber, Michael Ayers (editors), ''The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy'', Volume 1 (2003), p. 556; [https://books.google.com/books?id=BPlkkgIhUXIC&pg=PA556 Google Books].</ref> In 1646, Magnenus estimated a lower bound for the number of atoms in a piece of incense "not larger than a pea".<ref> {{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-review/article/concept-of-law-and-models-in-chemistry/56E82B06C3EDF7E23EFDF399079B1877/core-reader|title=The Concept of Law and Models in Chemistry|website=cambridge.org|access-date=2019-06-20}}
(''fuissent in hoc thuris grano, pisi magnitudinem non superante, atomi elementales ad minimum 777 600 000 000 000 000, ex quibus patet quantae sit parvitatis atomus una, concjicique potest, quantus sit atomorum numerus in toto universo''</ref> His value of {{val|7.776e17}} is too small <!-- "off by a factor of one million" is unreferenced.
density of frankincense: 0.9 g/cm3, volume of a pea: 0.2 g/cm, mass: 0.18 g = 1e23 u.
the atomic weight of an "atom" of frankincense is impossible to determine, resin contains terpenes with carbon content c. C5-C40,
but the process of burning (a) adds oxygen and (b) reduces the size of the molecules, so you have a wild mixture of molecules of different weights, but let's say the average molecule has atomic weight of about 500 u, in which case we would get N = 2e20.
So the estimate of 1e18 would be off by a factor of about 100, not 1e6.
Here is a source that argues the estimate is off by one order of magnitude (regarding the number of incense molecules, not the number of combustion products). (One order of magnitude is easily accounted for by the estimate of "no larger than the size of a pea", so the estimate is really within reasonable margins of uncertainty)
--> by about one order of magnitude.<ref>"only about one order of magnitude short regarding the length of an incense molecule" Klaus Ruedenberg, W. H. Eugen Schwarz, ''Three Millennia of Atoms and Molecules'' (2013), Chapter 1, pp. 1–45, {{doi|10.1021/bk-2013-1122.ch001}}.</ref>
This is remarkably accurate for the means used to estimate the number; a modern estimate for the number of molecules in a macroscopic sample was only given in 1865, by [[Josef Loschmidt]].


His other writings include ''De tabaco'' (1648), on medical usage and effects of [[tobacco]], and ''De manna liber singularis'' (1648). He apparently prescribed tobacco syrup as a standard remedy for his patients.
His other writings include ''De tabaco'' (1648), on medical usage and effects of [[tobacco]], and ''De manna liber singularis'' (1648). He apparently prescribed tobacco syrup as a standard remedy for his patients.

Revision as of 06:14, 18 March 2022

Johann Chrysostom Magnenus (French Jean Chrysostôme Magnen, c. 1590 – c. 1679[1]) was a physician and advocate of atomism.

He was born at Luxeuil in Burgundy.[2] He took a medical degree at the University of Dôle.[3]

Title page of Democritus reviviscens (1646).

He joined the medical faculty at the University of Pavia, where he published his scientific work Democritus reviviscens in 1646. He cited Daniel Sennert, but his ideas were distinct from Sennert's and those of Democritus. He considered that atoms were the indivisible parts of three of the classical elements: earth, water and fire.[4] In 1646, Magnenus estimated a lower bound for the number of atoms in a piece of incense "not larger than a pea".[5] His value of 7.776×1017 is too small by about one order of magnitude.[6] This is remarkably accurate for the means used to estimate the number; a modern estimate for the number of molecules in a macroscopic sample was only given in 1865, by Josef Loschmidt.

His other writings include De tabaco (1648), on medical usage and effects of tobacco, and De manna liber singularis (1648). He apparently prescribed tobacco syrup as a standard remedy for his patients.

References

  1. ^ these are the dates given in Dictionary of Scientific Biography; Güsgens (1910) estimated his birth at close to 1600 and his death close to 1670.
  2. ^ "The Galileo Project". galileo.rice.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  3. ^ Francesco Bottin, Models of the History of Philosophy: From its origins in the Renaissance to the "historia philosophica" (1993), pp. 133–4; Google Books.
  4. ^ Daniel Garber, Michael Ayers (editors), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy, Volume 1 (2003), p. 556; Google Books.
  5. ^ "The Concept of Law and Models in Chemistry". cambridge.org. Retrieved 2019-06-20. (fuissent in hoc thuris grano, pisi magnitudinem non superante, atomi elementales ad minimum 777 600 000 000 000 000, ex quibus patet quantae sit parvitatis atomus una, concjicique potest, quantus sit atomorum numerus in toto universo
  6. ^ "only about one order of magnitude short regarding the length of an incense molecule" Klaus Ruedenberg, W. H. Eugen Schwarz, Three Millennia of Atoms and Molecules (2013), Chapter 1, pp. 1–45, doi:10.1021/bk-2013-1122.ch001.
  • J. Güsgens, Die Naturphilosophie des Johannes Chryostomos Magnenus, Bonn, 1910.
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