Isaac Beeckman played a significant role in the history of science, since he devised a physico-mathematical philosophy to investigate nature that influenced, if not inspired, René Descartes amongst others. Yet, Beeckman's role in the history of science should not be restricted to his precarious relationship with Descartes. On the contrary, he held a pivotal position that lays bare an important attempt to account for natural phenomena and bodies within a systematic theory of mathematical physics. His Journal (written between 1604 and 1637, and published in its entirety only in 1939-1953) is a useful source for unearthing the attempt to apply a systematic theory of mathematical physics to the study of nature. In other words, his natural philosophy combines mechanical ingenuity and mathematical methodology with a theoretical view. By means of his method, he fostered, if not anticipated, the modern approach to nature. In this sense, Beeckman was a son of his country. The Dutch Provinces of the time were a laboratory of practices and ideas and a crossroads between cultures, systems, and knowledge, as Delphine Antoine-Mahut and Catherine Secretan have recently shown.

Moving from these premises, in this chapter I explore Beeckman's focus on plants, one of the less-studied subjects of his broad range of interests. Although Beeckman may not be defined as a botanist nor as a botanical virtuoso in a strict sense, his attempt to deal with vegetation within his corpuscular, atomistic, and mechanical theory importantly surfaces in a few notes in his Journal and significantly anticipates a modern understanding of the vegetal realm of nature.