Herophilus biography

Abstract

One of the most stirring controversies in the history of Anatomy is that Herophilus, an ancient Greek anatomist and his younger contemporary, Erasistratus, were accused of performing vivisections of living humans. However, this does not detract from the fact that Herophilus has made phenomenal anatomical observations of the human body which have contributed significantly towards the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and nervous system. It is notable that he was the first person to perform systematic dissection of the human body and is widely acknowledged as the Father of Anatomy. He has been hailed as one of the greatest anatomists that ever lived, rivaled only by Andreas Vesalius who is regarded as the founder of modern human anatomy.

Keywords: Father of anatomy, Vivisection, Human body dissection, Controversy

Introduction

The city of Alexandria, Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great and established by the mighty Ptolemaio Pharoahs, was home to many renowned philosophers and medical practitioners of that time. Alexandria housed the largest book repository in the world, with approximately 700,000 scrolls, many of which were libraries of prominent philosophers.

With a wealth of intellectual property residing in the libraries, it is little wonder why the famous Greek geographer, Strabo, termed the city as the 'greatest emporium in the world'. Of the Alexandrian texts, several were written by some of the finest anatomists of that time. Herophilus, in particular, was considered among the great physicians of Antiquity (Dobson 1925) and acknowledged by many as the Father of Anatomy (Wiltse & Pait, 1998).

Background

Born in 335 B.C. in the town of Chalcedon, Asia Minor, Herophilus (Fig. 1) is believed to have lived till 255 B.C. Little is known about the early phases of Herophilus' life, other than the fact that he took flight to Alexandria at a youthful age, to commence h

Herophilus (325-255 B. C.) is one of the group that has been called the great Greek physicians. All members of this group lived during the last 400 years of Greek intellectual leadership and the first 200 years of Roman domination. Herophilus was born in the Greek town of Chalcedon. He received his medical training under Praxagoras, a famous physician and anatomist who taught at the Hippocratean medical school on the island of Cos (Kos). He moved to Alexandria, Egypt, as a young man and lived there for the rest of his life. With his younger contemporary, Erasistratus, he did the first ever scientific human cadaveric dissections for a short period of no more than 30-40 years. Human dissection then was forbidden and was not allowed again for 1800 years. It seems that only these two physicians ever performed human dissection until the Renaissance, around 1530 A. D. The anatomic and physiologic discoveries of Herophilus were phenomenal. As Hippocrates is called the Father of Medicine, Herophilus is called the Father of Anatomy. Most would argue that he was the greatest anatomist of antiquity and perhaps of all time. The only person who might challenge him in this assessment is Vesalius, who worked during the 16th century A. D.

Greek physician (335–280 BC)

For the man identified by Valerius Maximus as Herophilus, see Pseudo-Marius.

"Europhiles" redirects here. For people with pro-European attitudes, see Europhile.

Herophilos (; Ancient Greek: Ἡρόφιλος; 335–280 BC), sometimes LatinisedHerophilus, was a Greek physician regarded as one of the earliest anatomists. Born in Chalcedon, he spent the majority of his life in Alexandria. He was the first scientist to systematically perform scientific dissections of human cadavers. He recorded his findings in over nine works, which are now all lost. The early Christian author Tertullian states that Herophilos vivisected at least 600 live prisoners; however, this account has been disputed by many historians. He is often seen as the father of anatomy.

Life

Herophilos was born in Chalcedon in Asia Minor (now Kadıköy, Turkey), c. 335 BC. Not much is known about his early life other than he moved to Alexandria at a fairly young age to begin his schooling.

As an adult Herophilos was a teacher, and an author of at least nine texts ranging from his book titled On Pulses, which explored the flow of blood from the heart through the arteries, to his book titled Midwifery, which discussed duration and phases of childbirth. In Alexandria, he practiced dissections, often publicly so that he could explain what he was doing to those who were fascinated. Erasistratus was his contemporary. Together, they worked at a medical school in Alexandria that is said to have drawn people from all over the ancient world due to Herophilos's fame.

His works are lost but were much quoted by Galen in the second century AD. Herophilos was the first scientist to systematically perform scientific dissections of human cadavers. Dissections of human cadavers were banned in most places at the time, except for Alexandria. Celsus in De Medicina and the church leader Tertullian state that he vivis

Herophilus was an anatomist and physician who spent the majority of his life learning, teaching, living, and writing in Greek-ruled Alexandria, Egypt. He was among the first to dissect the human body. Dissections of human cadavers were banned in most places in ancient times, except for Alexandria. Herophilus recorded his findings in over nine works that were kept at the library in Alexandria for almost 700 years until a massive fire destroyed all of his writings in 391 CE.

In his book, On Pulses, Herophilus wrote about his ideas on the flow of blood from the heart through the arteries and in his book on midwifery he described the duration and phases of childbirth. He carried out public dissections, so his students could understand what he was doing and why.

Herophilus revised the humor theory of Hippocrates. In his own theory he argued against the notion that the veins were filled with a mixture of blood, air, and water, rather he showed, through his dissections that it was pure blood in the veins.

His work on blood and its movements eventually led Herophilus to study and analyze the brain. He proposed that the brain housed the intellect rather than the heart. He was the first person to separate the functions of the cerebrum and the cerebellum. He located animal spirits in the cerebrum.

Herophilus conducted detailed studies of the network of nerves located in the cranium. He described the optic nerve and the oculomotor nerve for sight and eye movement. This led him to further dissect the eye, and in so doing to discover the cornea, the retina, the iris, and the chorioid coat.

Further study of the cranium led Herophilus to describe the calamus scriptorius an area of the fourth ventricle in the human brain. He believed this was the seat of the human soul or psyche.

In his detailed studies of the nervous system, Herophilus also differentiated between nerves and blood vessels and found there to be differences between motor and sensory nerves.