Basso, Sebastian

1. Dates

Born: unknown

Died: unknown. fl. second half of 16th century

Dateinfo: Flourished (two dates give known period)

Lifespan: N/A

2. Father

Occupation: No Information

No information on financial status.

3. Nationality

Birth: Unknown

Career: France?

Death: Unknown

4. Education

Schooling: No University

He studied under Petrus Sinsonius at the Academia Mussipontana (Pont a Mousson, Lorraine)

5. Religion

Affiliation: unknown 6. Discipline: scolastic philosophy.

He is associated with atomism, but within the context of Scholastic philosophy.

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: None

7. Means of Support

Primary: 7. Support: Medical Practice,

Although there is no sound information, he did describe himself as "doctore medico."

8. Patronage

Type: Possibly From Aristocracy

Dedication of Basso's book: "Nobili ac singularis spei Adolscenti D. D. Carolo Tonardo Domino d'Ison" followed by 6 page letter in Latin.

9. Technological Involvement

Type: Medical Practice

10. Scientific Societies

Membership: no known contacts

Sources

1. Sebastian Basso, Philosophia Naturalis adversus Aristotelem Libri XII. In quibus abstrusa Veterum Physiologia restaurantur, & Aristotelis Errores solidis Rationibus refelluntur, (Geneva 1621). -- Microfilm Q 53 Joecher, Allgemeines Gelehrten Lexicon, 3, (reprint Hildesheim 1961) -- (reference room) no biographical information. Kurt Lasswitz, Geschichte der Atomistik vom Mittelalter bis Newton, 1 (Hamburg-Leipzig, 1890), 467-481 -- AC 173 . L34 -- cites other sources but says nothing is known about Basso's life.
2. J. R. Partington, A History of Chemistry, 2 (London, 1961), 387- 388. (cites other sources but has found no bio info) -- QD 11 . P27 Lynn Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 6, (New York, 1941), 386-388. (no biographical information) -- Q 125 . T4

Not Available and Not Consulted

1. I. Guareschi, "La teoria atomistica e Sebastiano Basso con notizie e considerazioni su William Higgins", in Memoria della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze Fisiche, Matematiche, e Naturali, 11 (1916), 289-388 Kurt Lasswitz, Vierteljahrschrift fuer wissenschaftlichen Philosophie, 9 (1884), 18 - 55.
2. Lauge Olaf Nielsen, "A 17th-century Physician on God and Atoms: Sebastian Basso," in Norman Kretzmann, ed., Meaning and Inference in Medieval Philosophy: Studies in Memory of Jan Pinborg, (Dordrecht, 1988), pp. 297-369.

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on geneological questions.