Pierre Michon Bourdelot was a French physician, anatomist, libertine

Libertine

A libertine is one devoid of most moral restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behavior sanctified by the larger society. Libertines, also known as rakes, placed value on physical pleasures, meaning those...

 and freethinker.

Life

Bourdelot studied at the Sorbonne

Sorbonne

The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 (1629) and travelled in 1634 to Rome in the compagny of count François de Noailles. In 1638 he came back to France and was appointed as
the privat doctor of the Condé family. In 1640 he founded the Académie Bourdelot, a circle for scientists, philosophers and authors, that came together twice a month. When his uncle died, he inherited a lot of books and manuscripts. When Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé, because of actions during the Fronde

Fronde

The Fronde was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin....

 against Absolutism

Absolutism

The term Absolutism may refer to:* Absolute idealism, an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G.W.F. Hegel. It is Hegel's account of how being is ultimately comprehensible as an all-inclusive whole...

, was captured by Mazarin, he took off; in 1652 he was in Stockholm, while Christina, Queen of Sweden a lot of mental and physical problems had. Bourdelot took many manuscripts with him as a present. He had a lot of influence on her with his jokes and poems by Pietro Aretino

Pietro Aretino

Pietro Aretino was an Italian author, playwright, poet and satirist who wielded immense influence on contemporary art and politics and invented modern literate pornography.- Life :...

. Within four weeks she seems to have been recovered and enjoying life. Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...

 and Christina's mother Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg

Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg

Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg was a German princess and queen consort of Sweden.She was the daughter of John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, and Anna, Duchess of Prussia, daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia....

 were shocked by his behavior and Bourdelot returned to France in 1653 with many presents.

Works (Selection)

• 1671 : Recherches et observations sur les vipères, faites par Mr Bourdelot, répondant à une lettre qu'il a receue de Mr Redi
  Francesco Redi
  Francesco Redi was an Italian physician, naturalist, and poet.-Biography:The son of Gregorio Redi and Cecilia de Ghinci was born in Arezzo on February 18, 1626. After schooling with the Jesuits, he attended the University of Pisa...
  
  (C. Barbin, Paris).
• 1672 : Conversations de l'Académie de monsieur l'abbé Bourdelot, contenant diverses recherches, observations, expériences et raisonnements de physique, médecine, chymie et mathématique, le tout recueilly par le Sr Le Gallois ; et le parallèle de la physique d'Aristote et de celle de Mons. Descartes, leu dans ladite Académie (T. Moette, Paris)
• 1715: Histoire de la musique et de ses effects… (Paris, 1715); published by his nephews.

Literature

• Robert Mortimer Gascoigne (1987). A Chronology of the History of Science, 1450–1900, Garland (New York) : xi + 585 p.
• Katia Béguin, « L’académie du Grand Condé » in Actes du Coll. Règlement, usage et science dans la France de l’absolutisme (1999), éd. Tec et Doc, Paris