Rudolph Goclenius the Younger

Who was Rudolph Goclenius the Younger?

Rudolf Goclenius the Younger was a German physician and professor of physics, medicine and mathematics at the Philipps University of Marburg. He was the oldest son of Rudolph Goclenius, who was also professor of rhetoric, logic and ethics at Marburg.

As a physician he worked on cures against the plague. He became famous for his miraculous cure with the "weapon salve" or Powder of Sympathy. Based on the hermetic concepts of Paracelsus he published 1608 the proposition of a "magnetic" cure to heal wounds: the application of the salve on the weapon should heal the wounds afflicted by the weapon. This concept was brought to England by the alchemist Robert Fludd. A famous proponent was Sir Kenelm Digby. Synchronising the effects of the powder was actually suggested in the leaflet Curious Enquiries in 1687 as a means of solving the longitude problem.

He is the eponym of the lunar crater Goclenius. Already in 1651, the Jesuits Riccioli/Grimaldi honored him on behalf of his book Urania on astrology and astronomy.