science · 12 December 1630 · 394 years ago
birth
Born 12 Dec 1630; died 17 Sep 1702 at age 71.
Swedish naturalist who discovered the lymphatic vessels (1650). These resemble the veins and capillaries, but have thinner walls and carry the clear, watery fluid portion of the blood (lymph). He demonstrated these to Queen Christina of Sweden in 1653, using a dog for the purpose. Rudbeck was a man of encyclopedic interests, who taught at the medical school at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and beyond medicine, mathematics, astronomy, architecture, fortification, gunnery, and even more. He founded the tradition of natural history at Uppsala. He established the first botanical garden there in 1654. He provided Uppsala with water pipes and stone paving for the streets, and constructed bridges. He built several greenhouses for tropical plants.
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