Dr. Samuel Hahnemann MD (1755-1843)
The founder of homeopathic medicine was a man of great intellect. At an early age he was fascinated by botany, geometry, mathematics and magnetism. Adept at languages, his school teacher had him teaching Greek to his fellow class mates when Hahnemann was only 12 years old. Said school teacher visited Hahnemann's family and persuaded them to let their son attend university and study medicine. Hahnemann was an original thinker who was so sceptical of the status quo of allopathic medicine of his day (blood letting, venesection, leeches) that he decided to reject it and resort to translating medical textbooks.
Whilst translating Dr. William Cullen MD materia medica he questioned the idea that Peruvian bark/china from which quinine is derived worked because of its astringent properties. So he took some. And produced many symptoms of malaria whilst healthy. From this experiment he deduced the following idea:
A medicine that can produce symptoms in a healthy organism can remove similar symptoms in a diseased organism. This reflection of symptomatic states is also known as simile similibus curantur - like cures like.
Hahnemann's clinical application of homoeopathy is fascinating and deserves deep and thorough research from many different people.
The Robert Bosch Institute in Stuttgart, Germany has an archive of Hahnemann's case books, remedy kits and much more. A visit is strongly recommend. Have been there a number of times for my own research. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/theme/institute-history-medicine
Here are some pictures from a recent trip to Mesissen, Germany to the birth place of Hahnemann.
