Valerius Cordus.

German Botanist 1515-1544

Valerius Cordus was an early sixteenth-century German botanist who advanced the study of pharmacology by studying botany in a newly observant way. Born in 1515 as the son of botanist Euricus Cordus, Valerius Cordus was introduced to botany at an early age. He trained with his father and with an uncle who was an apothecary (druggist). In the early 1500s, plants were the main source of medicines used to treat human ailments, and the study of medicine required knowledge of botany. Cordus not only learned botany rapidly from his family, but made brilliant botanical observations of his own. He received his bachelor's degree at the age of sixteen in Marburg, Germany, and went on to study at Wittenberg University. He gave several lectures and wrote a number of important works that were published after his death. Unfortunately, Cordus died of fever in...