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Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (1574, Bearsted, Kent – September 8, 1637, London) was a prominent English Rosicrucian and Paracelsian physicist, astrologer, and mystic. He was the son of Sir Thomas Fludd, a high-ranking governmental official (Queen Elizabeth I's treasurer for war in Europe).

He obtained an MD from University of Oxford.

Between 1598 and 1604, Fludd studied medicine, chemistry and the occult on the European mainland, but he is best known for his research in occult philosophy. He had a celebrated exchange of views with Johannes Kepler concerning the scientific and hermetic approaches to knowledge.^[1] His philosophy is presented in Utriusque Cosmi, Maioris scilicet et Minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica Historia (The metaphysical, physical, and technical history of the two worlds, namely the greater and the lesser, published in Germany between 1617 and 1621); according to Frances Yates, his memory system (which she describes in detail in The Art of Memory, pp. 321-341) may reflect the layout of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (The Art of Memory, Chapter XVI).

In 1618, Fludd wrote De Musica Mundana (Mundane Music) which described his theories of music, including his mundane (also known as "divine" or "celestial") monochord.^[2]

In 1630, Fludd proposed many perpetual motion machines. People were trying to patent variations of Fludd's machine in the 1870s. Fludd's machine worked by recirculation by means of a water wheel and Archimedean screw. The device pumps the water back into its own supply tank._{[1] [2]}

Fludd was the first person to discuss the circulation of the blood, and did in fact arrive at the correct conclusion. However, his conclusion was based on the macrocosm-microcosm analogy, a theory in which all occurrences in the microcosm (man) are influenced by the macrocosm (the heavens). His theory was that the blood must circulate because the heart is like the sun and the blood like the planets and, by this time, it was known that the planets orbit around the sun. William Harvey later explained the circulation of blood in more modern and experimental terms, although the work of William Harvey still refers to the macrocosm-microcosm analogy of Fludd.

According to the Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau hoax, Fludd was a Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.

He was a descendant of Cunedda Wledig ap Edern, King of Gwynedd, which is now part of Wales.

Gwynedd is one of two areas in Wales that has been ruled by Irish royal immigrants; the other being Dyfed.

1. ^ Wolfgang Pauli, Wolfgang Pauli - Writings on physics and philosophy, translated by Robert Schlapp and edited by P. Enz and Karl von Meyenn (Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1994), Section 21, The influence of archetypical ideas on the scientific theories of Kepler. ISBN 354-05685-9X, ISBN 978-354-05685-99.
2. ^ Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrucian symbolical philosophy (H.S. Crocker Company, Inc., 1928)

• Robert Fludd biography at Levity
• Fludd's magnum opus, 'Utriusque Cosmi maioris salicet et minoris metaphysica..'(1617-1619) is available as ZIP or PDF download.
• A large section of 'Utriusque Cosmi maioris salicet et minoris metaphysica..' is available as page images at the University of Utah.
• JR Ritman Library: Treasures from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica
• Robert Fludd chronology