Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim is certainly a formidable name. It belonged to a formidable personage . Philippus was his given Christian name; Theophrastus, in honour of Aristotle's famous pupil of that name, Bombastus von Hohenheim was his father's family name. The origin of the appellation "Paracelsus", by which he was and still is commonly known, is a greco-roman translation of "Hohenheim" and says "next to heaven".Paracelsus has been called everything from charlatan to genius, terms not necessarily exclusive. It cannot be denied that he played a significant role in the history of medicine, particularly in the field of iatrochemistry. It is understandable that the life of Paracelsus has fascinated many medical historians. Alemannic by birth, he was the son of a German physician and spent his youth in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Later, the family moved to Villach in Carinthia (K~irnten, in Austria). Labouring in the mines and smelting works of the mountain region, Paracelsus acquired a knowledge of both chemistry and metallurgy. He studied the arts, possibly in Vienna, then medicine in Italy, where he claimed to have graduated at the University of Ferrara in 1515. Unfortunately, the records have been lost.The knowledge Paracelsus acquired during his free education and guidance by his father contrasted vividly with the academic instruction given at the time. He found that there was a wide gap between what he considered science and the greco-arabic theories that were then the foundation of medicine. He was a rebellious spirit, already hardheaded, stubborn, and notorious for the use of coarse language full of invectives. Since he did not find the enlightenment he was seeking at the university he sought other teachers and started on a pilgrimage of discovery which, with short interruptions, was to last until his death. According to his own account, for years he travelled widely in Europe, the British Isles,