The intensified study of biology during the seventeenth century revived the spirit of inquiry into nature produced by the Renaissance and resumed the questioning of the traditional explanations of the Aristotelian system. Though many of the claims of the Aristotelian system, especially in regard to animal biology, were eventually proven correct, many of the ancient truths of biology, both animal and plant, broke down during the seventeenth century. Chemical studies of the human body began to break down the medieval belief that the human body was filled with four substances, or 'humors'--blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm--which if thrown out of balance caused illness. Edme Mariotte took steps toward the rejection of the Aristotelian beliefs surrounding plant biology by questioning the ancient belief in a vegetative soul. Mariotte demonstrated that every species of plant, and even the parts of a plant, exactly reproduce their own properties in their offspring. He affirmed that all of the vital processes of plants were the result of the interplay of physical forces and denounced any non-mechanical explanation.

Popular pages: The Scientific Revolution (1550-1700)