Shifting Attitudes to Drinking Common Water in Dutch Medicine, 1630–1750

Abstract The idea that water-drinking is healthy took shape in medical science throughout Europe from the seventeenth century onwards. This article adds new insights to this development through a focus on the Dutch field of medicine between 1630 and 1750. It shows how a major scientific context for this shift could be found in the specific combination of Helmontian iatrochemistry and Cartesian medicine. Yet, the development of thinking about drinking water was also very much shaped by social practices and technological advances outside of medicine. Chronologically, the increased social practic... Mehr ...