He lived at a time when the new science of chemistry was developing from alchemy and was an enthusiast for its application to medicine. He was known for his extensive knowledge of chemistry and was respected by scientists of the time such as Robert Boyle. He is chiefly remembered for publishing in 1651 a book "The Art of Distillation", a detailed handbook of knowledge and practice at the time, said to be possibly the earliest definitive book on the topic[1]. However, it has been claimed[2] that much of it was a translation of an earlier (1500) German text by Hieronymous Brunswig.
