Western Culture Global Presents

The Top 100 Heroes of Western Culture
These individuals have most contributed to replacing ignorance with knowledge, savagery with civilization, disease with health, tyranny with liberty, poverty with abundance, and despair with happiness.



#49: Paracelsus (1493-1541)

Paracelsus (1493-1541) was a Swiss-born physician and a father of modern medicine.

Paracelsus encouraged research, observation and experiment, as opposed to blindly accepting the authorities and dominant ideas of the time. He revolutionized medical methods largely by pioneering the use of chemicals and minerals to combat disease.

Paracelsus can also be considered the father of toxicology in that he correctly asserted that substances often considered toxic can be benign or beneficial in small doses, and conversely an ordinarily benign substance can be deadly if over-consumed.

Paracelsus, as well as others of his time (Copernicus, Leonardo da Vinci) helped to shatter medieval thought and give birth to the modern world.



Go to #50: Henry Ford


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