Monday, May 27, 2013
Kyle's Super Spectacular Botanica Visit
The Botanica visit in Amsterdam was very interesting. It really made me think about when people were first figuring out which plants are able to help with what diseases, and also how much to use to treat different ailments. Trying to think how much trial and error was used to discover the properties of the plants and also that after taking the plant people had to then realize what effects it had on their bodies. After they figured out all these properties, the fact that to become a doctor you just had to realize what different plants were and their properties is astounding and I personally would want a doctor that knows more than just the plants in the Botanica.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also found it strange that all you needed to do to be considered a doctor or pharmacist type person back in the day was walk through the garden and be able to identify at least most of the plants. That's pretty sketchy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that is crazy is the fact that one guy made the university build all the green houses and major buildings for him so he would stay in the Netherlands and not move to the USA. Then he left anyway!
ReplyDeleteI really liked our tour guide's description of how the wormwood plant (the plant that contains thujone which is in absinthe) affects people and the short history of how different governments regulated it.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that pharmacists of the period dealt in plants as opposed to chemicals.
ReplyDeleteThis is Marissa:
ReplyDeleteI thought it was pretty weird that the people experimenting with these plants were doing the trial-and-error method as well. The fact that the one plant, I think it was ferns, was deadly if ingested but that doctors figured out an amount that if the patient did not eat a fatty diet for a day before taking the plant would not die but experience curative properties was very risky. It made me wonder how they tested for the correct amount and how many people (or animals?) died in the process.