Anatomy And Physiology Essay

How we came to know what we know now about anatomy and physiology has always been a great curiosity of anyone interested in the medical field. Knowing the history can lead to even more discoveries in the future. When you think of anatomy you imagine something like this picture below.

But here is where it all began….

The beginning of anatomy and physiology, ironically, began with a curiosity in biology. The first man to create an important contribution to biology was Alcmaeon, in the 5th century, BC. He was the first scientist to have worked with dissection. His focus was in trying to find out from where and how human intelligence came to be. His research never intended to be anatomical. He merely stumbled upon anatomical research. Alcmaeon thought that when someone had a concussion it affected the mind. He believed this was where he was going to find his answer to where intelligence comes from. He began to think more and more on this idea and finally began dissecting bodies to try and find his answer. He discovered many new things in, near, and around the brain such as, the optic nerve and Eustachian tubes.

In 300 BC in Alexandrian, Egypt, vivisection, which is dissection of executed human criminals, began to make scientists more curious. King Ptolemy I was the first known leader to allow the dissecting of bodies for research purposes. Part of it had to do with Egypt’s tradition of mummification. Ptolemy had a general fascination in dissecting bodies, and executed criminals were the best option to cut open. Later on 2 surgeons, Herophilus and Erasistratus, made the first scientific discovery on human anatomy. Herophilus was named the Father of Anatomy. He was dedicated to doing research on vivisection, but it took a turn f...

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...ss of all life. Then the biggest discovery of all was in 1953, when DNA was discovered. Ever since then, up until the current date scientists and anatomists have been discovering medicines, treatments, and cures for certain diseases such as a vaccine for pneumonia, meningitis, hepatitis A, and things like that. The following is just a small chunk of a chart that describes some of the things discovered since 1964. As you can see, all of these discoveries have led to amazing things. If you think about it, way back in 5th century BC, it probably never occurred to Alcmaeon that cutting open a skull and finding the optic nerve would lead to the information we have now, same goes for all the other scientists and anatomists. It just goes to show how finding something on accident can become the one thing the world needs to discover more and more secrets about the human body.