| Phillip Theophrastus Gribbleflotz | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | Grantville Gazette VI Grantville Gazette VII Grantville Gazette VIII Grantville Gazette X Grantville Gazette XI Grantville Gazette XVII Grantville Gazette XIX Ring of Fire III' 1636: The Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz |
| Nationality: | Germany |
| Date of Birth: | 1594 |
| Occupation: | Alchemist and doctor |
| Spouse: | Maria Blandina |
| Children: | Jon (son) Salome (daughter) |
| Relatives: | Maria Elisabeth Bombast (mother) Paracelsus (supposed great grandfather) |
| Created by: | Kerryn Offord |
Phillip Theophrastus Gribbleflotz was a self-proclaimed doctor and alchemist who made a bundle of money by bulk manufacturing "simple" chemistry products for up-timers, using instructions they provided. He embarked on his first enterprise after genuine alchemists refused the job. He was seen as a charlatan and a money-maker by the more professional down-time doctors. However, he was in fact a competent technician with the down-time equivalent of a mail-order diploma, certifying him as a prima facie Doctor of Medicine.[1] Gribbleflotz also claimed that he was a great-grandson of Paracelsus.
When as a student for his doctorate, his sponsor died, and the enmity of other students and professors caused him to leave the University. Afterwards, between 1618 and 1623, Gribbleflotz worked in army of the counts of Nassau-Siegen as a physician and surgeon, where he developed the feeling that explosives were anathema. Henceforth in the creation of chemical compounds, he would not knowingly work on any explosive materials.
He made his first fortune with baking soda, which he renamed Sal Aer Fixus, because he did not want to be seen as making something to be used by cooks. Later, he made aspirin, which he named Sal Vin Betula, and dyed blue on the grounds that blue was the color of serenity. By January of 1632, the Sal Vin Betula was rumored to exceed profits of ten thousand dollars per week, at a price of ten dollars each. Much to Tom Stone's disgust, Doctor Gribbleflotz's brand outsold the straight-forward and cheaper stuff produced by Stone's pharmaceutical works. Eventually, when his father got distracted by something else, Ron Stone quietly ordered the chemists to start dying their own aspirin blue as well. Sales picked up right away, even though Ron raised the price a bit at the same time.
Story list[]
- The Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 1: Calling Dr. Phil - After finding that downtime alchemists consider the work beneath them, the women of Grantville hire self-proclaimed Doctor Gribbleflotz to make baking soda.
- Dr. Phil's Amazing Lightning Crystal - To get him to make baking powder, Grantvillers give Gribbleflotz some kiddie electric projects, including a student's science fair project to make piezoelectric crystals.
- Dr. Phil's Aeolian Transformers (Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright) - Grantville's radio group wants crystals to make headphones. Serendipitously, Dr. Gribbleflotz has been making Rochelle salts (which are piezoelectric) from the science fair information he previously received.
- The Dr. Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 2: Dr. Phil's Amazing Essence Of Fire Tablets (Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright) - Experiments lead to camping fuel tablets, which can also be used to prepare explosives.
- Dr. Phil Zinkens A Bundle - Gribbleflotz discovers a method to get zinc from sphalerite.
- The Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 3: Doctor Phil's Distraction - Gribbleflotz is in danger of falling for an investment scam. Various down-timers are claiming they've proved a method of smelting aluminum and need more funds to develop the mine which has already begun low volume production. The up-timer Kubiak family who so humorously manipulate the bombastic Dr. Phil in their four year partnership seek to protect the good doctor from his passions—and come up blank. A happy accident intrudes as Dr. Phil visits Rudolstadt and, through a sudden shove in the back, meets the dour Pastor Kerstenmeir's youngest daughter.
- The Doctor Phil Chronicles: Doctor Phil's Family
- Bootstrapping - Dr. Phil's former seamstress accepts a microloan to make pill boxes from casein.
- Dr. Phil For President
- 1636: The Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz - a separately issued e-book collection of all of the stories
References[]
- ↑ Grantville Gazette VI, Dr. Phil's Aeolian Transformers