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Jan Baptist Van Helmont

Jan Baptist van Helmont

Jan Baptist van Helmont (1577 (?) - December 30, 1644) was a Belgian chemist, physiologist and physician. Born into a noble family in Brussels, he was educated at Leuven, and after ranging restlessly from one science to another and finding satisfaction in none, turned to medicine, in which he took his doctor's degree in 1599. The next few years he spent in travelling through Switzerland, Italy, France and England. Returning to his own country he was at Antwerp at the time of the great plague in 1605, and having contracted a rich marriage settled in 1609 at Vilvoorde, near Brussels, where he occupied himself with chemical experiments and medical practice until his death. Van Helmont presents curious contradictions. On the one hand he was a disciple of Paracelsus (though he scornfully repudiates his errors was well as those of most other contemporary authorities), a mystic with strong leanings to the supernatural, an alchemist who believed that with a small piece of the philosopher's stone he had transmuted 2000 times as much mercury into gold; on the other hand he was touched with the new learning that was producing men like Harvey, Galileo and Bacon, a careful observer of nature, and an exact experimenter who in some cases realized that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. As a chemist he deserves to be regarded as the founder of pneumatic chemistry, even though it made no substantial progress for a century after his time, and he was the first to understand that there are gases distinct in kind from atmospheric air. The very word "gas" he claims as his own invention, and he perceived that his "gas sylvestre" (our carbon dioxide) given off by burning charcoal is the same as that produced by fermenting must and that which sometimes renders the air of caves irrespirable. For him air and water are the two primitive elements of things. Fire he explicitly denies to be an element, and earth is not one because it can be reduced to water. That plants, for instance, are composed of water he sought to show by the ingenious quantitative experiment of planting a willow weighing 5 lb (2 kg) in 200 lb (90 kg) of dry soil and allowing it to grow for five years; at the end of that time it had become a tree weighing 169 lb (76 kg), and since it had received nothing but water and the soil weighed practically the same as at the beginning, he argued that the increased weight of wood, bark and roots had been formed from water alone. It was an old idea that the processes of the living body are fermentative in character, but he applied it more elaborately than any of his predecessors. For him digestion, nutrition and even movement are due to ferments, which convert dead food into living flesh in six stages. But having got so far, with the application of chemical principles to physiological problems, he introduces a complicated system of supernatural agencies like the archeus of Paracelsus, which preside over and direct the affairs of the body. A central archeus controls a number of subsidiary archei which move through the ferments, and just as diseases are primarily caused by some affection (exorbitatio) of the archeus, so remedies act by bringing it back to the normal. At the same time chemical principles guided him in the choice of medicines--undue acidity of the digestive juices, for example, was to be corrected by alkalis and vice versa; he was thus a forerunner of the iatrochemical school, and did good service to the art of medicine by applying chemical methods to the preparation of drugs. Over and above the archeus he taught that there is the sensitive soul which is the husk or shell of the immortal mind. Before the Fall the archeus obeyed the immortal mind and was directly controlled by it, but at the Fall men received also the sensitive soul and with it lost immortality, for when it perishes the immortal mind can no longer remain in the body. In addition to the archeus, which he described as "aura vitalis seminum, vitae directrix," Van Helmont had other governing agencies resembling the archeus and not always clearly distinguished from it. From these he invented the term blas, defined as the "vis motus tam alterivi quam localis." Of bias there were several kinds, e.g. bias humanum and blas meteoron; the heavens he said "constare gas materiâ et blas efficiente." He was a faithful Catholic, but incurred the suspicion of the Church by his tract De magnetica vulnerum curatione (1621), which was thought to derogate from some of the miracles. His works were collected and published at Amsterdam as Ortus medicinae, vel opera et opuscula omnia in 1668 by his son Franz Mercurius (b. 1618 at Vilvorde, d. 1699 at Berlin), in whose own writings e.g. Cabbalah Denudata (1677) and Opuscula philosophica (1690) mystical theosophy and alchemy appear in still wilder confusion. See Michael Foster, Lectures on the History of Physiology (1901); Michel Chevreul in Journ. des savants (Feb. and March 1850). Other authorities are Poultier d'Elmoth, Mémoire sur J. B. van Helmont (18i7); Rixner and Sieber, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Physiologie (1819-1826), vol. ii.; Spiers, Helmont's System der Medicisl (1840); Melsens, Leçons sur van Helmont (1848); Rommelaere, Etudes sur J. B. van Heimont (1860).

References

- Helmont Helmont van Helmont van Helmont Helmont, Jan Baptist van ZH:海尔蒙特

1644

Events

- February to August - Explorer Abel Tasman's second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia.
- April - A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide.
- June 6 - The invading Manchu army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing, China. This marks the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (also known as the Manchu Dynasty), the last imperial dynasty of China.
- July 2 - Battle of Marston Moor, a crushing victory for the Parliamentary side of the English Civil War, ends Charles I's hold on the north of England.
- September 1 - Battle of Tippermuir, Montrose defeats Elcho's Covenanters, reviving Royalist cause in Scotland
- September 2 - Second Battle of Lostwithiel, the last major victory for Charles I and the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
- September 15 - Pope Innocent X is elected to the Papacy, in Rome.
- November 23 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.
- December - Plague breaks out in Edinburgh.

Unknown date

- The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice. Music by Francesco Cavalli and libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
- Kolumna Zygmunta (Sigismund's Column) erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Zygmunt III Waza, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.
- Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy).

Ongoing events

- English Civil War (1642-1649)

Births

- January 10 - Louis François, duc de Boufflers, French marshal (d. 1711)
- January 18 - John Partridge, English astrologer (d. 1708)
- April 7 - François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (d. 1730)
- June 16 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
- August 6 - Louise de la Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
- August 12 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer and violinist (d. 1704)
- September 25 - Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer (d. 1710)
- October 1 - Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (d. 1682)
- October 2 - François-Timoléon de Choisy, French writer (d. 1724)
- October 6 - Elisabeth of France, queen of Philip IV of Spain (b. 1602)
- October 14 - William Penn, English Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (d. 1718)
- Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (d. 1737)
- Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet (d. 1694) See also :Category:1644 births.

Deaths

- April - Chongzhen, last Ming Emperor of China (suicide) (b. 1611)
- April 10 - Reverend William Brewster, Pilgrim leader (b. 1567)
- July 29 - Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
- September 7 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian statesman and historian (b. 1579)
- September 8 - John Coke, English politician (b. 1563)
- September 8 - Francis Quarles, English poet (b. 1592)
- November 6 - Thomas Roe, English diplomat
- November 10 - Luís Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer (b. 1579)
- December 30 - Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist (b. 1577) See also :Category:1644 deaths. Category:1644 ko:1644년

Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium (Dutch: Koninkrijk België; French: Royaume de Belgique; German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in northwest Europe bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Belgium has a population of over ten million people in an area of thirty thousand square kilometres. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Romance Europe, it is both linguistically and culturally divided. Two major languages are spoken in Belgium: Dutch—sometimes unofficially called Flemish—spoken in Flanders to the north; and French, spoken in Wallonia in the south. The capital, Brussels, is officially bilingual. In addition to the two, an officially recognized minority of German speakers is present in the east. This linguistic diversity often leads to political conflict, and is reflected in Belgium's complex system of government and political history. Belgium derives its name from its first named inhabitants, the Belgae, a group of mostly Celtic tribes, and from the Roman province in northern Gaul, known as Gallia Belgica. Historically, Belgium has been a part of the Low Countries, which also includes the Netherlands and Luxembourg. From the end of the Middle Ages until the seventeenth century, it was a prosperous center of commerce and culture. From the sixteenth century until independence in 1830, Belgium, called at that time the Southern Netherlands, was the site of many battles between the European powers, and has been dubbed "the Cockpit of Europe." More recently, Belgium was a founding member of the European Union, hosting its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organisations, such as NATO.
History
Over the past two millennia, the area that is now known as Belgium has seen significant demographic, political and cultural upheavals. The first well-documented population move was the conquest of the region by the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC, followed in the 5th century by the Germanic Franks. The Franks established the Merovingian kingdom, which became the Carolingian Empire in the 8th century. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were split into many small feudal states. Most of them were united in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries by the house of Burgundy as the Burgundian Netherlands. These states gained a degree of autonomy in the 15th century and were thereafter named the Seventeen Provinces. The history of Belgium can be distinguished from that of the Low Countries from the 16th century. A civil war, the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), divided the Seventeen Provinces into the United Provinces in the north and the Southern Netherlands in the south. The southern provinces were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs. Until independence, the Southern Netherlands were sought after by numerous French conquerors and were the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the Campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries—including territories that were never under Habsburg rule, such the Bishopric of Liège—were overrun by France, ending Spanish-Austrian rule in the region. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the end of the French Empire in 1815. The 1830 Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium under a provisional government. Since the installation of Leopold I as king in 1831, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Between independence and World War II, the democratic system evolved from an oligarchy characterised by two main parties, the Catholics and the Liberals, to a universal suffrage system that has included a third party, the Belgian Labour Party, and a strong role for the trade unions. Originally, French, which was the adopted language of the nobility and the bourgeoisie was the official language. The country has since developed a bilingual Dutch-French system. The Berlin Conference of 1885 agreed to hand over Congo to King Leopold II as his private possession, called the Congo Free State. In 1908, it was ceded to Belgium as a colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. Belgium's neutrality was violated in 1914, when Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan. The former German colonies Ruanda-Urundi—now called Rwanda and Burundi—were occupied by the Belgian Congo in 1916. They were mandated in 1924 to Belgium by the League of Nations. Belgium was again invaded by Germany in 1940 during the blitzkrieg offensive. The Belgian Congo gained its independence on 30 July 1960 during the Congo Crisis, and Ruanda-Urundi became independent in 1962. After World War II, Belgium joined NATO and, together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, formed the Benelux group of nations. Belgium was also one of the founding members of the European Economic Community. Belgium hosts the headquarters of NATO and a major part of the European Union's institutions and administrations, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and most of the sessions of the European Parliament. During the 20th century, and in particular since World War II, the history of Belgium has been increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main language communities. This period saw a rise in intercommunal tensions, and the unity of the Belgian state has come under scrutiny. Through constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s, regionalisation of the unitary state had led to the establishment of a three-tiered system of federal, linguistic-community and regional governments, a compromise designed to minimise linguistic tensions.
Politics
federal Belgium is a constitutional popular monarchy and parliamentary democracy that evolved after World War II from a unitary state to a federation. The bicameral parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is a mix of directly elected senior politicians and representatives of the communities and regions; while the latter represents all Belgians over the age of eighteen in a proportional voting system. Belgium is one of the few countries that has compulsory voting, thus having one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world. The federal government, formally nominated by the king, must have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives. It is led by the Prime Minister. The numbers of Dutch- and French-speaking ministers are equal as prescribed by the Constitution. The King or Queen is the head of state, though he has limited prerogatives. Actual power is vested in the Prime Minister and the different governments, who govern the country. The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Appeals is one level below the Court of Cassation, an institution based on the French Court of Cassation. Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organised around the need to represent the main language communities. Since around 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties has split into distinct components that mainly represent the interests of these communities. The major parties in each community belong to three main political families: the right-wing Liberals, the centrist Christian Democrats, and the left-wing Social Democrats. Other important younger parties are the Green parties and, especially in Flanders, the nationalist and far-right parties. Politics is strongly influenced by powerful lobby groups, such as trade unions and business interests in the form of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, or the Roman Catholic Church and the Freemasonry. Freemasonry The current king, Albert II, succeeded King Baudouin in 1993. In 1999, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from the VLD has led a six-party Liberal-Social Democrat-Greens coalition, often referred to as 'the rainbow government'. This was the first government without the Christian Democrats since 1958. In the 2003 elections, Verhofstadt won a second term in office and has led a Liberal-Social Democrat coalition of four parties. More recently however, the steady rise of the Flemish ultra-right nationalist separatist party Vlaams Belang, has superseded the Vlaams Blok amidst concerns of racism promoted by the party. A significant achievement of the two successive Verhofstadt governments has been the achievement of a balanced budget; Belgium is one of the few member-states of the EU to have done so. This policy was applied by the successive governments during the 1990s under pressure from the European Council. The fall of the previous government was mainly due to the dioxin crisis, a major food intoxication scandal in 1999 that led to the establishment of the Belgian Food Agency. This event resulted in an atypically large representation by the Greens in parliament, and a greater emphasis on environmental politics during the first Verhofstadt government. One Green policy, for example, resulted in nuclear phase-out legislation, which has been modified by the current government. The absence of Christian Democrats from the ranks of the government has enabled Verhofstadt to tackle social issues from a more liberal point of view and to develop new legislation on the use of soft drugs, same-sex marriage and euthanasia. During the two most recent parliaments, the government has promoted active diplomacy in Africa, opposed a military intervention during the Iraq disarmament crisis, and has passed legislation concerning war crimes. Both of Verhofstadt's terms have been marked by disputes between the Belgian communities. The major points of contention are the nocturnal air traffic routes at Brussels Airport and the status of the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.
Communities and regions
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde (the German-speaking Community is located in the province of Liège along the German border) and the bilingual Capital Region of Brussels. The boundary between these regions is marked in red.]] The country's constitution was revised on 14 July 1993 to create a unique federal state, based on three levels: #The federal government, based in Brussels. #The three language communities: #
- the Flemish (i.e., Dutch-speaking) Community; #
- the French (i.e., French-speaking) Community; and #
- the German-speaking Community. # The three regions (which differ from the language communities with respect to the German-speaking community and the Brussels region): #
- the Flemish Region; #
- the Walloon Region; and #
- the Brussels-Capital Region. Conflicts between the bodies are resolved by the Court of Arbitration. The setup allows a compromise to distinctly different cultures live together peacefully. The Flemish Community absorbed the Flemish Region in 1980 to form the government of Flanders. The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region is included in both Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Flemish and Walloon regions are furthermore subdivided in administrative entities, the provinces. At the highest level of this three-tiered setup is the federal government which manages foreign affairs, development aid, defence, military, police, economic management, social welfare, social security transport, energy, telecommunications, and scientific research, limited competencies in education and culture, and the supervision of taxation by regional authorities. The federal government controls more than 90 per cent of all taxation. The community governments are responsible for the promotion of language, culture and education in mostly schools, libraries and theatres. The third tier is the Regional governments, who manage mostly land and property based issues such as housing, transportation etc. For example, a school building in Brussels belonging to the public school systemwould be regulated by the regional government of Brussels. However, the school as an institution would fall under the regulations of the Flemish government if the primary language of teaching is Dutch, but under the French Community government if the primary language is French.
Geography
social security, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges and Namur are the seven largest cities of Belgium, with populations above 100,000]] Belgium, with an area of 30,528 km², has three main geographical regions: the coastal plain in the north-west, the central plateau, and the Ardennes uplands in the south-east. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Polders are areas of land, close to or below sea level that have been reclaimed from the sea, from which they are protected by dikes or, further inland, by fields that have been drained with canals. The second geographical region, the central plateau, lies further inland. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. Here one can also find rougher land, including caves and small gorges. gorge The third geographical region, called the Ardennes, is more rugged than the first two. It is a thickly forested plateau, very rocky and not very good for farming, which extends into northern France. This is where much of Belgium's wildlife can be found. Belgium's highest point, the Signal de Botrange is located in this region at only 694 metres. The climate is maritime temperate, with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb; the average temperature is 3°C in January, and 18°C in July; the average precipitation is 65 mm in January, and 78 mm in July).
Economy
Densely populated, Belgium is located at the heart of one of the world's most highly industrialised regions. Köppen climate classification, near Liège.]] Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 1800s. Liège and Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis and there was famine in Flanders (1846–50). After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a fast expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a prolonged recession. The Belgian steel industry has since experienced serious decline. This has been responsible for inhibiting the economic development of Wallonia. In the 1980s and 90s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards to Flanders. Nowadays, industry is concentrated in the populous Flemish area in the north. By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. Currently, although the government has recently succeeded in balancing its budget, public debt is nearly 100% of GDP. In 2004, the real growth rate of GDP was estimated at 2.7% but is expected to fall to 1.3% in 2005. Belgium has a particularly open economy. It has developed an excellent transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways and highways to integrate its industry with that of its neighbours. Antwerp is the second-largest European port. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate the member economies. In 1999, Belgium adopted the euro, the single European currency, which replaced the Belgian franc in 2002. The Belgian economy is strongly oriented towards foreign trade, in particular of high value-added goods. The main imports are food products, machinery, rough diamonds, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, clothing and accessories, and textiles. The main exports are automobiles, food and food products, iron and steel, finished diamonds, textiles, plastics, petroleum products, and nonferrous metals. Since 1922, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market within a customs and currency union—the Belgian-Luxembourgian Economic Union. Its main trading partners are Germany, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States and Spain. Belgium ranks ninth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.
Demographics
The population density (342 per km²) is one of the highest in Europe, after the Netherlands and some smaller countries such as Monaco. The areas with the highest population density are around the Brussels-Antwerp-Ghent-Leuven agglomerations, as well as other important urban centres as Liège, Charleroi, Kortrijk, Bruges, Hasselt and Namur. The Ardennes have the lowest density. As of 2005, the Flemish Region has a population of about 6,043,161, Wallonia 3,395,942 and Brussels 1,006,749. Almost all of the population is urban (97.3% in 1999). The main cities and their populations are Brussels (1,006,749), Antwerp (457,749), Ghent (230,951), Charleroi (201,373), and Liège (185,574). Namur and the Catholic Church.]] About 60% of the country is Dutch-speaking, 40% French-speaking, and 1% German-speaking. However, these figures must be interpreted cautiously, because the most recent linguistic census was taken before 1960, and the mother tongue is not always the same as the language used in public or in official life. Brussels is officially French-Dutch bilingual, but mostly French speaking; it evolved from a Dutch-speaking place to its current dominantly French character when the Belgian state became independent in 1830. Both the Dutch spoken in Belgium and the Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken in France and the Netherlands. Many people can still speak dialects of Flemish and Walloon. These dialects, along with some other ones like Picard or Limburgish, are not used in public life. The laïque constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. According to the 2001 Survey and Study of Religion, about 47% of the population identify themselves as belonging to the Catholic Church. According to these figures, the Muslim population is the second largest religious community, at 3.5% (see Religion in Belgium). Since independence, Catholicism, counterbalanced by strong freethought movements, has had an important role in Belgium's politics, in particular via the Christian trade union (CSC/ACV) and the Christian Democrat parties (CD&V, CDH). 98% of the adult population is literate. Education is compulsory from the ages of six to 18, but many Belgians continue to study until the age of about 23. Among the OECD countries in 1999, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18–21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%. Nevertheless, in recent years, concern is rising over certain forms of illiteracy, such as functional illiteracy. In the period 1994–98, 18.4% of the population lacks functional literacy skills. Mirroring the historical political conflicts between the freethought and Catholic segments of the population, the Belgian educational system in each communities is split into a laïque branch controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, and a subsidised religious—mostly Catholic—branch controlled by both the communities and the religious authorities—usually the dioceses.
Culture
Belgian cultural life has tended to concentrate within each community. The shared element is less important, because there are no bilingual universities, except the royal military academy, no common media, and no single, common large cultural or scientific organisation where both main communities are represented. Aside from these differences, Belgium is well-known for its fine art and architecture. The region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence over European art. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish, the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting, and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, and the Renaissance vocal music of the Dutch School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries, are milestones in the history of art. Dutch School. This painting is inspired by the many folk festivals in Belgium.]] This rich artistic production, often referred to as a whole as Flemish art, gradually declined during the second half of the 17th century. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries, many original artists appeared. In music, Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. Eugène Ysaÿe was a major 19th- and 20th-century Belgian violinist (See also Music of Belgium). In architecture, Victor Horta was a major initiator of the Art Nouveau style. Belgium has produced famous romantic, expressionist and surrealist painters; these include Egide Wappers, James Ensor, Constant Permeke and René Magritte. In literature, Belgium has produced several well-known authors, such as the poets Emile Verhaeren, Jacques Brel and novelists Hendrik Conscience and Georges Simenon. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. The best known Franco-Belgian comics are The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé but many other major authors of comics have been Belgian, including Edgar P. Jacobs and André Franquin. More recently, notable cinema directors have emerged, most of them strongly influenced by French cinema. The absence of a major Belgian cinema company has forced them to emigrate or participate in low-budget productions. Belgian directors include Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; actors include Jan Decleir, Marie Gillain; and films include Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair. In the 1980s, Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts has produced the important fashion trendsetters, the Antwerp Six. Belgium has also contributed to the development of science and technology. The mathematician Simon Stevin, the anatomist Andreas Vesalius and the cartographer Gerardus Mercator are among the most influential scientists from the beginning of Early Modern in the Low Countries. More recently, at the end of the 19th century, in applied science, the chemist Ernest Solvay and the engineer Zenobe Gramme have given their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo. Georges Lemaître is a famous Belgian cosmologist credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet in 1919, Corneille Heymans in 1938, and Albert Claude and Christian De Duve in 1974. Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. One could not understand Belgian cultural life without considering the folk festivals, which play a major role in the country's cultural life. Examples are the Carnival of Binche, the Ducasse of Ath, the procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges, the 15th-of-August festival in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. A major non-official holiday is the Saint Nicholas Day, which commemorates the festival of the children and, in Liège, of the students. Belgium is well represented in the world of sport—football (soccer) and cycling are especially popular. The national football team is the Red Devils. Among the well known cyclists, Eddy Merckx, won five Tours de France. Belgium also has two current female tennis champions: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne. Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the Michelin Guide. Brands of Belgian chocolate, like Neuhaus, are world renowned and widely sold; even the cheapest and most popular brand, Leonidas, has earned a reputation for its quality. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer (ales, pils) (see Belgian beer). Belgians have a reputation for loving waffles and French fries, both originally from Belgium; the national food is steak (or mussels) with French fries.
Related topics

- Communications in Belgium
- Education in Belgium
- Football in Belgium
- Foreign relations of Belgium
- List of Belgian municipalities by population
- List of Belgians
- List of Belgium-related topics
- Military of Belgium
- Public holidays in Belgium
- Tourism in Belgium
- Transportation in Belgium
External links

- [http://www.Belgium.be/ Official site of the Belgian federal government]
- [http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Official site of Belgian tourist office in the Americas]
- [http://www.goldenpages.be/ Telephone directory online]
- [http://www.mediatico.com/en/newspapers/europe/belgium Belgian Newspapers]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Belgium Wikitravel guide]
- [http://www.175-25.be/ Belgium is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its independence and the 25th anniversary of the federal state]
- [http://www.bruessel-gui.de/bruessel/bildergalerien.html bruessel-gui.de - Images: Brussels & Belgium]
References

- [http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/lowcountries/xbelgium.html World history at KLMA]
- [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/belgiqueacc.htm L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde] in French by Jacques Leclerc, University of Laval, Canada
- [http://statbel.fgov.be/port/cou_eu_en.asp#BE Portal of the INS to statisical publications about Belgium]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html CIA World Fact Book]
- [http://www.fed-parl.be/constitution_uk.html Constitution of Belgium]
Notes

1. Nuttall encyclopedia
2. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4545433.stm Language dispute divides Belgium, BBC News, 13 May, 2005]
3. Election turnout in national lower house elections from 1960 to 1995, numbers from Mark N. Franklin's "Electoral Participation."
4. [http://www.fed-parl.be/gwuk0006.htm#E11E6 Constitution of Belgium] Art. 99
5. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/392004.stm Belgium's "rainbow" coalition sworn in, BBC News, 12 July, 1999]
6. [http://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/fiche/10F.pdf Composition of the Chamber of Representatives, on the official homepage of the Chamber, in French]
7.[http://jackosheas.com/news/newsstory.cfm?story_no=1124 Court says Vlaams Blok conviction is sound, Expatriate Online, 10 November, 2004]
8.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3994867.stm Court rules Vlaams Blok is racist, BBC News, 9 November, 2004]
9.[http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/belg-j08.shtml Dioxin contamination scandal hits Belgium: Effects spread through European Union and beyond, World Socialist Web Site, 8 June, 1999]
10.[http://www.favv-afsca.fgov.be/portal/page?_pageid=34,66751&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL History of the Federal Food Agency, at its official homepage]
11.[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0019846.html The Rwanda article at Tiscali.References] shows an example of Belgium's recent African policies.
12.[http://www.flanders.be/ The official homepage of Flanders (Community and Region)]
13.[http://www.eurometeo.com/english/climate/city_EBBR/id_GT/meteo_brussels_belgium Eurometeo: The meteo at Brussels]
14-15.[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm US Department of State's report]
16.[http://www.nbb.be/pub/Home.htm?l=en&t=ho National Bank of Belgium]
17.[http://www.economist.com/countries/Belgium/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Forecast Economic forecast of the Economist, 30 September, 2005]
18,20.[http://statbel.fgov.be/ Official statistics of Belgium]
19,24.[http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/indicator/cty_f_BEL.html United Nation Development Programme]
21-22.[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE Ethnologue.com] published by SIL International
23.[http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d03/ch_6.asp Digest of Education Satistics 2003, US National Education Statistics]
25.[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35444.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2004 at the US Department of State]
Category:Monarchies Category:European Union member states zh-min-nan:Belgien als:Belgien ko:벨기에 ms:Belgium ja:ベルギー simple:Belgium th:ประเทศเบลเยียม fiu-vro:Belgiä

Physiologist

Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. Physiology has traditionally been divided into plant physiology and animal physiology but the principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular organism is being studied. For example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of human physiology to non-human animal species. Plant physiology also borrows techniques from both fields. Its scope of subjects is at least as diverse as the tree of life itself. Due to this diversity of subjects, research in animal physiology tends to concentrate on understanding how physiological traits changed throughout the evolutionary history of animals. Other major branches of scientific study that have grown out of physiology research include biochemistry, biophysics, biomechanics, and pharmacology.

History

It was Abu Bakr Al Razi (popularly known as Rhazes) who described certain physiological parameters when he went to establish a hospital at Baghdad in the eighth century AD. Razi was followed by Al Kindi, who wrote a treatise on human physiology. Anatomist William Harvey described blood circulation in the 17th century, providing the beginning of experimental physiology. Herman Boerhaave is sometimes referred to as the father of physiology due to his exemplary teaching in Leiden and textbook 'Institutiones medicae'(1708).

Areas of physiology

Human and animal

Human physiology (main article) is the most complex area in physiology. This area has several subdivisions which overlap with each other. Many animals have similar anatomy to humans and so share many of these areas.
- myophysiology deals with the operation of muscles
- neurophysiology concerns the physiology of brains and nerves
- cell physiology addresses the functioning of individual cells
- membrane physiology focuses on the exchange of molecules across the cell membrane
- respiratory physiology goes into the mechanics of gaseous exchange at the lung
- circulation also known as cardiovascular physiology, deals with the heart, blood and blood vessels and issues arising
- renal physiology focuses on the excretion of ions and other metabolites at the kidney
- endocrinology covers endocrine hormones which affect every cell in the body
- neuroendocrinology concerns the complex interactions of the neurological and endocrinological systems which together regulate physiology
- reproductive physiology concerns the reproductive cycle

Plant

Plant physiology has differing subdivisions. For example, since plants do not have muscles and nerves, neither myophysiology nor neurophysiology applies.
- Transpiration is the study of water loss from the plant leaves
- Photosynthesis is the conversion of sunlight energy, water and CO₂ to form sugars (glucose). Category : Subjects Taught in Medical School ja:生理学 simple:Physiology th:สรีรวิทยา

Physician

A physician is a person who practices medicine. See that article for more information on what physicians do in their practices; this article focuses on physician training and regulation. In the United States, the term physician is traditional and commonly used. In Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, the term doctor is more common as physician refers to specialists in internal medicine. Because of the extensive training requirements, physicians are traditionally considered to be members of a learned profession.

Training

:See also: medical school and medical residency.

United Kingdom

Medicine in the UK is an undergraduate subject. Students can begin training after leaving the school at 18 years of age. Medical school training lasts either five or six years, depending on the institution, and combines academic and practical training. Junior doctors then enter a vocational training phase. In the UK a doctor's training normally follows this path: #Degree level preclinical - Doctors must study medicine in university or medical school for two to three years "preclinical" (meaning little patient contact). However following recommendations by the British Medical Association (BMA) many universities are following a "Problem-based learning" approach, which stresses basing the studies around actual patient cases. #Clinical - This time is spent in a teaching hospital and typically lasts two or three years. After this is completed the student doctor is awarded a Bachelor of Medicine (BM or MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BCh or BS). An honorary prefix of "Dr" is now entitled to be used, although it is not recognised in the academic sense of the word (see Doctorate). Doctors who graduated overseas have to pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board test (PLAB) to be eligible for further postgraduate training and jobs in UK. #The Foundation Programme - Due to recent changes in the training of junior doctors, newly qualified doctors enter a two year Foundation Programme, where they train in a variety of different specialities. These must include training in General Medicine and General Surgery but can also include other fields such as Paediatrics or General Practice. Following completion of the Foundation Programme a doctor can choose to specialise in one field. All routes involve further assessment and examinations. The majority in the UK work in the community as General practitioners (GPs), who are the first port of call for patients. They diagnose illness and refer patients for further examination by specialists if necessary. The majority of patients are managed by their GP without the need for further referral. Hospital doctors are promoted after sitting relevant postgraduate exams within their chosen specialty (e.g. Member of the Royal College of Physicians MRCP, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons MRCS) and a competitive interview selection process from SHO to Specialist Registrar and eventually Consultant on completion of the CCST (Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training), which is the highest level in a specialty team (with the exception of university-linked professors). The competition is great for those who wish to attain consultant level and many now complete higher degrees in research such as a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) which is a thesis-based award based on at least two years full-time research or PhD which involves at least three years of full-time research. The time taken to get from graduation from medical school to becoming a Consultant varies from speciality to speciality but can be anything from 7 to 10 years, or longer in some specialities.

United States

In the United States and countries following the U.S. method, the path to a medical degree is somewhat different. #Admissions: Admission into medical school requires either three years of undergraduate study or a four-year post-secondary bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, depending on medical institution. Most require that the applicant have attained a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. Admissions criteria include overall performance in the undergraduate years and performance in a group of courses specifically required by U.S. medical schools, the score on the Medical College Admissions Test (a national standardized test), application essays, letters of recommendation (number varies, but at least 1 from science faculty and 1 from non-science faculty), and interview(s). The list of courses required are as follows: #
- biology (1 year) #
- general chemistry (1 year) #
- organic chemistry (1 year) #
- physics (1 year) #
- calculus or sometimes statistics (1 year) #
- English composition (1 year) #
- sometimes behavior science and/or biochemistry (1 semester)
Note:These subjects are studied part time, so several can be completed in one year.

#Medical School: Once admitted to medical school, it takes four years to earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine "Osteopathy" (D.O.) degree. The course of study is divided into two roughly equal parts. Preclinical study generally comprises the first two years and consists of classroom and laboratory instruction in core subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, and neurosciences. Once the student successfully completes preclinical training, he or she moves on to the clinical portion. This usually occupies the final two years of medical school and takes place almost exclusively on the wards of a teaching hospital or, occasionally, with community physicians. The students observe and take part in the care of actual patients under the supervision of residents and attending physicians. Rotations on clinical services such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, and psychiatry are the foundation of this curriculum, but many specialty electives may be chosen as well. Upon completion of medical school, the student earns the title of doctor, but cannot practice independently until completing further training. Also, several universities across the U.S. admit high school students to both their undergraduate colleges and the medical schools simultaneously; students attend a single six-year to eight-year integrated program consisting of two to four years of an undergraduate curriculum and four years of medical school curriculum, culminating in both a bachelor's and M.D. degree.
#Internship: During the last year of medical school, students apply for postgraduate residencies in their chosen field of specialization. These are more or less competitive depending upon the desirability of the specialty, prestige of the program, and the number of applicants relative to the number of available positions. All but a few positions are granted via a national computer match which pairs an applicant's preference with the programs' preference for applicants. The first year of any residency is known as "internship". Completion of this year is the minimum training requirement for obtaining a license to practice medicine in the U.S.
#Residency: Each of the specialties in medicine has established its own curriculum, which defines the length and content of residency training necessary to practice in that specialty. Programs range from three years after medical school for internal medicine to five years for surgery to eight or nine for neurosurgery. This does not include research years that may last from 1 year up to a completion of a Ph.D. Each specialty incorporates an internship year to satisfy the requirements of licensure. All specialties hold a board exam (either written or written and oral) at the completion of training in order to confer "Board Certification" in that specialty.
#Fellowship: Certain highly specialized fields require formal training beyond residency. Examples of these are cardiology, endocrinology, oncology after internal medicine; cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical oncology after general surgery to name just a few. There are many others for each field of study. The training programs for these fields are known as fellowships and their participants are "Fellows" to denote that they already have completed a residency and are "Board Eligible" or "Board Certified" in their basic specialty. Fellowships range in length from one to three years and are granted by application to the individual program or sub-specialty organizing board.
#Attending physicians and Consultants: The physician or surgeon who has completed his or her residency and possibly fellowship training and is in the practice of their specialty is known as an Attending or Consultant. These are the physicians who may independently care for patients and are the final arbiters of care. They are responsible for all care decisions and may bill for their services. However, medicine is an extremely diverse profession with many options available. Some doctors work in pharmaceutical research, occupational medicine (within a company), public health medicine (working for the general health of a population in an area), or join the armed forces.

France

In France, a doctor's training is performed in public university hospital, called Centre hospitalier universitaire or CHU; it consists in:
- First cycle
- the first year is common with the dentists and the midwives; the rank at the final examination determines in which branch the student can go on; it is called "PCEM1" (premier cycle des études médicales, first cycle of medical studies) or "P1";
- the second year is called "PCEM2" and is dedicated to the fundamental sciences (or propédeutique, propaedeutics): anatomy, human physiology, biochemistry, bacteriology, statistics...
- Second cycle
- The first year is called "DCEM1" (deuxième cycle des études médicales, second cycle of medical studies), and is also dedicated to the study of propaedeutics
- The second, third and fourth years (DCEM2-4) are called externat, and are dedicated to the study of clinical medicine; they end with a classifying examination, the rank determines in which speciality (the general medicine is one of them) the student can make an internat: the first graduate can choose speciality, and at the rank n, the graduate must choose amongst the places left; the graduate also gets a Certificat de synthèse clinique et thérapeutique (certificate of clinical and therapeutical synthesis).
- The internat is two years and a half (general medicine) or four years (specialist) of initial professional experience under the responsibility of a senior; the interne can prescribe, replacements of liberal phsicians can be made, and usually the student works in an hospital. This ends with a doctorate, a research work which most of times consist in a statistical study of cases to propose a care strategy of a specific affection (in an epidemiological, diagnostical, or therapeutical point of view). A specialist also gets a DES (diplôme d'études spécialisées, diploma for specialised studies). The initial training thus consist in eight years and a half for a general practitioner, and ten years for a specialist (including a surgeon).

India

See Medical College (India) for details

Regulation

In most jurisdictions, physicians need government permission to practise. This is known as licensing in the United States, as colegiation in Spain, as ishi menkyo in Japan, as autorisasjon in Norway, as approbation in Germany, and as registration in Australia and the United Kingdom. In France, civilian physicians must be a member of the Order of physicians to practice medicine. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, the profession regulates itself, with the government affirming the regulating body's authority (in the UK the General Medical Council [GMC]). Regulating authorities will revoke permission to practice in cases of malpractice or serious misconduct. Graduates of Foreign Medical Schools, who enter USA have to pass USMLE step 1 and 2 [http://ecfmg.org/ ECFMG old name]and do a residency program to qualify for a state license. After graduating from medical school, American physicians usually take a standardized exam which enables them to obtain a certificate to practice from the appropriate state agency. All American states have an agency which is usually called the "Medical Board," although there are alternate names such as "Board of Medicine," "Board of Medical Examiners," "Board of Medical Licensure," "Board of Healing Arts," etc. Australian states usually have a "Medical Board," while Canadian provinces usually have a "College of Physicians and Surgeons." In the United States, as a result of the war on drugs, pharmaceuticals are strictly regulated at the federal level by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. All practicing American physicians who intend to prescribe controlled substances must obtain a number from the DEA, and that DEA number must appear on all their prescriptions. Use of the DEA number enables dispensing pharmacists or the DEA to ensure that a physician is not dispensing potentially addictive or harmful drugs, such as opiates or stimulants, in contravention to accepted standards of care.

External links

- [http://www.fact-sheets.com/health/doctor_tips/ Tips for Talking to Your Doctor] Category:Healthcare occupations Category:Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations
- Physician ja:医師 ko:의사

Brussels

Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the French community of Belgium, the Flemish community and of the European Union. Brussels is, first of all, a city located in the centre of Belgium and its capital, but it sometimes also refers to the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region. This municipality inside Brussels is correctly named The City of Brussels (French: Bruxelles-Ville or Ville de Bruxelles, Dutch: Stad Brussel), which is one of 19 municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region (see also: Municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region). The municipality has a population of about 140,000 while the Brussels-Capital Region has more than a million inhabitants. . [http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html] The Brussels-Capital Region is a region of Belgium in its own right, alongside the Flemish Region and Wallonia. Geographically, it is an enclave in the Flemish Region. Regions are one component of Belgium's complex institutions, the three communities being "the" other component: the Brussels inhabitants must deal with either the Flemish Community or the French (speaking) community for matters such as culture and education. Brussels is also the capital of Flanders and of the French Community of Belgium (Communauté française Wallonie-Bruxelles in French) ; all Flemish capital institutions are established here: Flemish Parliament, Flemish government and its administration. Two of the three main institutions of the European Union - the European Commission and the Council of the European Union - have their headquarters in Brussels: the Commission in the Berlaymont building and the Council in the Justus Lipsius building facing it. The third main institution of the European Union, the European Parliament, also has a parliamentary chamber in Brussels in which its committee meet and some of its plenary sessions are held (the other plenary sessions are held in Strasbourg, and its administrative headquarters are in Luxembourg). Brussels is also the political seat of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Western European Union (WEU) and EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. The "language frontier" divides Belgium into a northern, Dutch-speaking, region and a southern, French-speaking, region. Although the real language frontier and the official one are largely identical, there are bilingual pockets on both sides with, in certain cases, no specific linguistic rights for the population speaking the other language. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual, while the majority of its residents speaks French (see the linguistic history of Brussels in this article's linguistic situation section). The highest building in Brussels is the South Tower (150 m); the most famous probably the Atomium, which is a remnant from the Expo '58.

Etymology

The name Brussels comes from the old Dutch Bruocsella, Brucsella or Broekzele, which means "marsh (bruoc, bruc or broek) home (sella or zele)" or "home in the marsh". "Broekzele" was spelt "Bruxelles" in French. In Belgian French pronunciation as well as in Dutch, the "k" eventually disappeared and "z" became "s", as reflected in the current Dutch spelling. The names of all other municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region are also of Dutch origin, except for Evere, which is of Celtic origin.

History

Celtic Celtic Celtic Celtic In 977, the German emperor Otto II gave Lower Lorraine, the empire's western frontier to Charles, the banished son of King Louis IV of France. Mention was already made of Brussels at the time. However, the founding of Brussels is usually known to happen when a small castle was built by Charles around 979 on an island (called Saint-Gery island) encompassed by the Senne river. At the end of the tenth century, with the death of Charles, Lower Lorraine was taken over by Lambert I of Leuven. Under Lambert II of Leuven, a new castrum and the first city walls were built. The small town became in the 12th century an important stop on the commercial road from Bruges to Cologne; the Counts of Leuven changed their name to Dukes of Brabant at about this time also. From 1357 to 1379, a new city enclosure was constructed as the former one was already proving to be too small: it is now known as the inner ring or pentagon. In the 15th century, by means of the wedding of heiress Margaret III of Flanders with Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a new Duke of Brabant emerged from the House of Valois (namely Antoine, their son), with another line of descent from the Habsburgs (Maximilian of Austria, later Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, was Philip's father). In 1695 Brussels was attacked by King Louis XIV of France: the battle was responsible for the flattening of the city's heart, the Grand Place, and the razing of what was left: more than 4000 houses, including the buildings of the Grand Place, were all destroyed, except for the famous city hall, the Hôtel de Ville, which miraculously survived). In 1830, the Belgian revolution took place in Brussels after a presentation of Auber's opera La Muette de Portici at La Monnaie theatre. On July 21, 1831, Léopold I, the first King of the Belgians, ascended the throne, undertaking the destruction of the city walls and the construction of many buildings. Under Léopold II, the city underwent many more changes: the Senne was culverted (as it brought diseases), theNorth-South Junction was built, and the Tervuren Avenue was laid out. From May 10, 1940, Brussels was bombed by the German army. A lot of damage was done with bombs mainly in 1943-1944. The Heysel Stadium disaster took place in Brussels on May 29, 1985. The Brussels Capital Region was founded on June 18, 1989.

Linguistic situation

The original languages of the Brussels area are Brabantic dialects of Dutch. A curiosity is "Marollien", a Brussels dialect heavily influenced by Walloon which was spoken in a central section of the city. Both Dutch and French have been in use for most of the city's history as official languages and were used by the upper classes. During the 19th and the 20th century, as literacy progressed, dialects started to lose ground to standardized languages. In Brussels, most of the population adopted French rather than Dutch as its language of culture, since at the time, it was more prestigious and consequently considered more useful. Today, the Brussels dialects are on the verge of extinction, although some try to revive them (see links). Nowadays, the Brussels Capital Region is officially bilingual French-Dutch. There are no official statistics on the first language of its population. However, according to a 2001 study by Rudi Janssens, a sociolinguist at the VUB, 8,5% of the Brussels population are native Dutch-speakers and 10,20% speak both Dutch and French at home. The rest of the population are French-speaking; allophones overwhelmingly use French when communicating with people who do not belong to their own language group. It should be noted that the Brussels periphery, which is officially part of Dutch-speaking Flanders, has an important French-speaking population. In most of the municipalities immediately bordering the Brussels Capital Region, French-speakers form a large majority. Their linguistic rights and/or the expansion of the Brussels Capital Region are the subject of much heated debate.

Universities

Brussels has several universities, the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis (FUSL) and the Katholieke Universiteit Brussel (KUB). A satellite campus of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) is also located in Brussels: it is called "Louvain-en-Woluwe" or "UCL-Brussels", and hosts the faculty of Medicine of the university.

Transport

Université catholique de Louvain Université catholique de Louvain Brussels is served by Brussels National Airport, located in the municipality of Zaventem, and by Brussels South Airport, located near Charleroi, some 80km from Brussels. Brussels' major train stations link the city to the United Kingdom by Eurostar, and to major European cities by high speed rail links (such as the Thalys). The Brussels metro dates back to 1976 (but underground lines known as premetro have been serviced by tramways since 1968). A comprehensive bus and tram network also covers the city. Brussels also has its own port on the Willebroek canal located in the city's northwest. There are four companies managing public transport inside Brussels:
- STIB/MIVB (metro, bus, tram)
- SNCB/NMBS (train)
- De Lijn (buses based in Flanders)
- TEC (buses based in Wallonia) An interticketing system means that a STIB/MIVB ticket holder can use the train or long-distance buses inside the city. The commuter services operated by De Lijn, TEC and SNCB/NMBS will in the next few years be augmented by an RER rail network around Brussels.

Railway stations

The major stations in Brussels are on the North-South Junction:
- Brussels North (Dutch: Brussel-Noord, French: Gare du Nord)
- Brussels Central (Dutch: Brussel-Centraal, French: Gare Centrale)
- Brussels South (Dutch: Brussel-Zuid, French: Gare du Midi or Bruxelles-Midi) (the Eurostar, Thalys, TGV and ICE international terminal) Two more stations serve the EU district in Brussels. Trains towards Namur and Luxembourg call at:
- Brussels Luxembourg
- Brussels Schuman The last two stations located in the municipality of Brussels (they also are on the North-South Junction and operate only in rush hours) are:
- Brussels Congress (French: Bruxelles-Congrès, Dutch:Brussel-Congres)
- Brussels Chapel (French: Bruxelles-Chapelle, Dutch: Brussel-Kapellekerk) Other railway stations in other Brussels municipalities include :
- Schaarbeek (French: Schaerbeek)
- Etterbeek
- Uccle Stalle (Dutch: Ukkel Stalle)
- Uccle Calevoet (Dutch: Ukkel Kalevoet)
- Jette
- Merode
- Delta
- Sint-Job (French: Saint-Job)
- Vorst Oost (French: Forest Est)
- Vorst Zuid (French: Forest Midi)
- Sint-Agatha-Berchem (French: Berchem Sainte-Agathe)
- Saint-Gilles (Dutch: Sint-Gillis)
- Watermaal (French: Watermael)
- Bosvoorde (French: Boitsfort)
- Boondael (Dutch: Boondaal)
- Meiser

Road network

Brussels has an orbital motorway, numbered R0 (R-zero) and commonly referred to as the "ring" (French : ring Dutch: grote ring). It is pear-shaped as the southern side was never built as originally conceived, owing to residents' objections. The city centre, sometimes known as "the pentagon", is surrounded by the "small ring" (Dutch: kleine ring, French: petite ceinture), a sequence of boulevards formally numbered R20. These were built upon the site of the second set of city walls following their demolition. Metro line 2 runs under much of these. On the eastern side of the city, the R21 (French: grande ceinture, no particular name in Dutch) is formed by a string of boulevards that curves round from Laeken to Uccle. Some premetro stations (see Brussels metro) were built on that route. A little further out, a stretch numbered R22 leads from Zaventem to St-Job.

Conferences and world fairs

Brussels hosted the third Congrès international d'architecture moderne in 1930. Two world fairs took place in Brussels, the Exposition universelle et internationale (1935) and the Expo '58 in 1958. The Atomium, a 103 metre representation of an iron crystal was built for the Expo '58, and is still there. Throughout 2003, Brussels celebrated native son Jacques Brel on the 25th anniversary of his death.

Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation or Switzerland (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica) is a landlocked federal republic in Europe, bordering Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international cooperation, and is home to many international organisations. Confoederatio Helvetica is the Latin official name. The use of Latin avoids having to choose one of the four official languages. The abbreviation (CH) is similarly used; for example, it is used as Switzerland's ccTLD, .ch. The Latin title Confoederatio Helvetica means Helvetic Confederation. The titles commonly used in French, Italian and Romansh translate as Swiss Confederation, while the German name of Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft translates roughly as "Swiss Oath Fellowship" or "Swiss Commonwealth of the Covenant".

History

Switzerland is a federation of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. According to the popular legend, in 1291, representatives of the three forest cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden signed the Federal Charter. The charter united the involved parties in the struggle against foreign rule by the Habsburgs, who then held the German imperial throne of the Holy Roman Empire. At the Battle of Morgarten on November 15, 1315, the Swiss defeated the Habsburg army and secured quasi-independence as the Swiss Confederation. The authenticity of the Federal Charter is disputed, with many historians agreeing that it is in fact a forgery of the 14th century. By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city states of Lucerne, Zürich and Berne, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century (although Zürich was expelled from the confederation during the 1440s due to a territorial conflict) and led to a significant increase of power and wealth of the federation, in particular due to the victories over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the 1470s, and the success of the Swiss mercenaries. The traditional listing order of the cantons of Switzerland reflects this state, listing the eight "Old Cantons" first, with the city states preceding the founding cantons, followed by cantons that joined the federation after 1481, in historical order. The Swiss victory in a war against the

Jan Baptist van Helmont

References

1644

Events

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Ongoing events

Births

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Belgium

History

Politics

Communities and regions

Geography

Economy

Demographics

Culture

Related topics

External links

References

Notes

Physiologist

History

Areas of physiology

Human and animal

Plant

Physician

Training

United Kingdom

United States

France

India

Regulation

See also

External links

Brussels

Etymology

History

Linguistic situation

Universities

Transport

Railway stations

Road network

Conferences and world fairs

See also

Places of interest

Notable parks

Notable people from Brussels

Sports clubs

Concert halls

Museums

Other

External links

Switzerland

History