University reform and medical alchemy in Ole Worm’s Museum Wormianum (1655)

The Danish professor and physician Ole Worm (1588-1654) is famous for his cabinet of curiosities, which was showcased in his Museum Wormianum (1655). This chapter addresses two chief motivations behind Worm’s collecting practices, as reflected in this posthumous work. Firstly, Worm presented his collection as part of a university reform programme that sought to move teaching away from Aristotelian Scholasticism and closer to a Plinian model of natural history. Secondly, the collection reveals Worm’s keen interest in medical alchemy, as reflected mainly in his mineralogical collection. The chapter also discusses Worm’s indebtedness to the Paracelsian current and his reception of Jan Baptist Van Helmont.