Jeff Montgomery edited perspective.tex  about 9 years ago

Commit id: 4ac48a27a7c970a31563190ee0a08444e5a73ea0

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From a modern perspective, many his teachings seem like as much quackery as the Antiquity-based knowledge he challenged: Paracelsus often used astrological and alchemical explanations as evidence. But unlike the authoritative scholars, \txtbf{Paracelsus emphasized observation and iteration in his proto-scientific practice}. And while he published a few texts on his medicinal findings, much more  of his observations time was spent wandering to avoid punishment, spreading his teachings, and tending to the afflicted in ways that later came to have miraculous significance. This led to the Paracelsian movement (through to the 17th century), a loose following that collected and \textbf{in fact corrected} much of Paracelsus's scattered scholarship.   Though it was short-lived, Paracelsianism questioned the traditional, and often wrong, medical authority of the pre-industrial age, setting the stage for unprecedented advances. What's more, with his advocacy for \textit{actually looking at nature and real effects}, Paracelsus predicated notions of the scientific method and evidence-based medicine. And by injecting a healthy dose of pardigm-shifting anti-authoritarianism, we can begin to see the modern science begin to take form.