Burchard de Volder (26 July 1643 – 21 March 1709) was a Dutch physician.

Biography

He was born in a Mennonite family in Amsterdam. He earned an M.A. in philosophy at the University of Utrecht under Johannes de Bruin: in 1660. He earned his medical doctorate from the University of Leiden under Franciscus Sylvius in 1664. Thanks to the efforts of the Volder, a physics laboratory at the University of Leiden was established in 1675. He collected measuring instruments of all kinds and performed many physics demonstrations, particularly those illustrating the discoveries of Robert Boyle. This laboratory was unique for its time. He is further famous as one of Gottfried Leibniz's most important philosophical correspondents.

De Volder's work drew many foreign students. One of his most famous students was Herman Boerhaave.

References

External links

• Burchard de Volder at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• Ph.D. students of B. de Volder