Gabriel Plattes
Encyclopedia
Gabriel Plattes was an English writer on agriculture
and science
, and also now recognised as the author of the utopian work Description of the Famous Kingdome of Macaria, often attributed to Samuel Hartlib
under whose name it was published.
A Discoverie of Infinite Treasure was an early work in the fields of chemistry, metallurgy and geology. According to Allen Debus Plattes was heavily influenced by William Gilbert and the theory of magnetism
. He wrote on the dowsing rod, colour and mineral composition, and the formation of geological features.
Generally opposed to alchemist
s, he wrote a catalogue of tricks associated with their claims, Caveat for Alchemists appearing in the Chymical, Medicinal, and Chyrurgical Addresses: Made to Samuel Hartlib of 1655. He was not, however, a sceptic; but raised also the issue of motivation in the search for transmutation into gold and the losses of the adept.
Other works were
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and also now recognised as the author of the utopian work Description of the Famous Kingdome of Macaria, often attributed to Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
under whose name it was published.
Life
He was one of the earliest advocates in England of an improved system of husbandry, and devoted time and money to practical experiments. He was in poverty at the end of his life and was supported by Hartlib, to whom he left his unpublished papers.Works
His Treatise of Husbandry (1638) concerns both agriculture and the relations of landlord and tenant. His later tracts mainly repeat under new titles information first published in the Treatise.A Discoverie of Infinite Treasure was an early work in the fields of chemistry, metallurgy and geology. According to Allen Debus Plattes was heavily influenced by William Gilbert and the theory of magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
. He wrote on the dowsing rod, colour and mineral composition, and the formation of geological features.
Generally opposed to alchemist
Alchemist
An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist may also refer to:-People and groups:*The Alchemist , a hip hop music producer and rapper*Alchemist , an Australian progressive metal band...
s, he wrote a catalogue of tricks associated with their claims, Caveat for Alchemists appearing in the Chymical, Medicinal, and Chyrurgical Addresses: Made to Samuel Hartlib of 1655. He was not, however, a sceptic; but raised also the issue of motivation in the search for transmutation into gold and the losses of the adept.
Other works were
- Observations and Improvements in Husbandry, with twenty Experiments, London, 1639.
- Recreatio Agriculturæ, London, 1640, 1646.
- The profitable Intelligencer, communicating his knowledge for the generall good of the Commonwealth and all Posterity, &c. [London, 1644].
Further reading
- Allen G. Debus, Gabriel Plattes and his Chemical Theory of the Formation of the Earth's Crust. Ambix, 9, (1961), pp. 162–165.
- D. Geoghegan, Gabriel Plattes' Caveat for Alchymists. Ambix, 10 (1962), pp. 97–102.
- Charles Webster, The Authorship and Significance of Macaria, Past & Present, No. 56 (Aug., 1972), pp. 34–48
- Charles Webster, Utopian Planning and the Puritan Revolution: Gabriel Plattes, Samuel Hartlib, and Macaria, Research Publications, II (Oxford: Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, 1979).