Human Anatomy, Part 1 - K. A. Dyubenko, A. K. Kolomiysev, Yu. B. Chaykovsky 2002

General Part
Historical Outline
Anatomy of the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance

The earliest written sources on anatomy were discovered in Ancient China (in 3000 BC, Hwang Ti authored a book containing anatomical data and illustrations). An equally valuable find, dated 2550 BC, was unearthed in Egypt. The Ebers papyri, titled "The Secret Book of the Physician" and "The Lore of The Heart's Motion," compiled medical knowledge of the time. The Ebers books presented material from an Anatomical and physiological perspective, specifically detailing the "Heart" and "Heart Vessels."

Anatomy advanced significantly in Ancient Greece, where medicine was considered a matter of national importance. As early as the 9th century BC, Homer wrote in the Iliad: "A wise physician is worth many men." In Ancient Greece, hospitals known as Asclepieia were established adjacent to temples.

A prominent Greek scholar was Hippocrates (460–377 BC), known as the "Father of Medicine," who was born on the island of Kos and lived in Athens. His major contribution to science lies in gathering and systematizing facts and observations passed down through generations. Hippocrates is credited with 72 scholarly treatises. His compendium, which brings together the works of ancient Greek physicians, includes excerpts such "On Anatomy," "On the Heart," and "On Glands," describing Internal Organs, bones, joints, Muscles, and major Blood Vessels.

Another prominent Greek scholar was Aristotle (384–322 BC), who collected and documented facts of great medical significance for his era. In his books History of Animals, Parts of Animals, and Generation of Animals, Aristotle described nearly 500 animal species and established their first Classification. Through animal experiments, he determined the distinction between nerves and tendons.

Claudius Galen (131–c. 200) is regarded as the greatest scientist of the ancient world after Hippocrates, marking the culmination of ancient medicine. Galen conducted anatomical experiments on animals. He extrapolated his findings to humans, which later had a negative impact on The Development of anatomy. At the same time, he made many valuable contributions: he described previously unknown connective-tissue membranes in muscles and nerves, and identified distinct layers within the walls of Arteries, The Stomach, and the Uterus. He demonstrated the presence of vascular networks in the Kidneys and Liver, and described seven out of the twelve pairs of Cranial Nerves. Galen's most important works include Anatomical Procedures and On the Usefulness of the PARTS OF THE Body. Their significance is underscored by the fact that human anatomy was studied using his texts for thirteen centuries.

A prominent scholar of the medieval East was Avicenna (Abu Ali Ibn Sina) (980–1037), born in Afshana near Bukhara. In his renowned masterpiece, The Canon of Medicine, he included a section titled "Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology." His works remained influential until the 17th century across both the Islamic world and the West. Avicenna passed away at the age of 57 in Hamadan, Iran, where his mausoleum-museum stands to this day.

During the Middle Ages, medical science was entirely subordinated to religion. Pope Boniface VIII issued a decree prohibiting the dissection of human corpses for scientific research. Consequently, this period left few significant milestones in anatomy. The anatomical knowledge accumulated prior to the 16th century was largely inaccurate and failed to satisfy the physicians, sculptors, and artists of the time.

The renowned Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) deeply studied Human and Animal anatomy and physiology. He was the first to systematically dissect corpses to investigate The Structure of human organs. Leonardo da Vinci refined Galen's anatomical illustrations and introduced innovative Research Methods, such as injecting a solidifying solution into the cerebral ventricles to cast their shape. Having dissected 30 human corpses, Leonardo produced 800 original anatomical drawings that retain their scientific value to this day. He also proposed a classification of human body muscles based on their Location and function.

The establishment of modern descriptive human anatomy required novel research methodologies and technical approaches. Such methods and techniques were introduced by the Italian physician Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), a student of the prominent French anatomist Jacques Sylvius. As a reformer and founder of scientific anatomy, he actively performed dissections on human and animal corpses, often visiting places of execution to secretly procure bodies for anatomical study. By the age of 23, Vesalius had acquired a robust foundation in anatomical knowledge (in Leuven and Paris), enabling him to secure the chair of surgery at the University of Padua. He lectured to students and physicians and published six anatomical tables. In 1543, Vesalius published his seminal work, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem ("On the Fabric of The Human Body in Seven Books") in Basel, Switzerland, illustrated with drawings based on actual dissections. To facilitate The Study of anatomy, Vesalius also authored a concise summary of his work titled Epitome, which he dedicated to Philip II, son of Charles V.

Notable 16th-century scientists who made major anatomical discoveries include G. Falloppio (1523–1562), B. Eustachi (1510–1574), L. Botallo (1530–1600), C. Varolio (1543–1575), and R. Colombo (1516–1559). Galen's traditional concepts of Blood Circulation no longer satisfied contemporary scholars; their theories were subsequently expanded upon by the Spanish physician Michael Servetus and the English physician William Harvey.

Michael Servetus (1511–1553) was a Spanish physician and theologian who opposed church dogma. Due to religious persecution, he was forced to flee to France, where he studied medicine. Servetus discovered and described the pulmonary (lesser) circulation of blood. This groundbreaking discovery cost him his life: he was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake along with his writings.

William Harvey (1578–1657) was a prominent English scientist and the founder of scientific physiology and Embryology. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1597 and subsequently studied in Padua, Italy. In 1602, he earned his doctorate in medicine and settled in London, becoming a professor of anatomy, physiology, and surgery in 1616. Harvey refuted Galen's teachings on blood circulation as incorrect. He applied experimental methods to The Study of The Heart and Blood Vessels, which he detailed in his seminal work Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus ("Anatomical Essay on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals"), written in Latin and published in 1628. His discovery was of such magnitude that it inevitably drew opposition from contemporaries. The scientific debate was ultimately resolved four years after Harvey's death, when the Italian physician and naturalist Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694) used a Microscope to discover pulmonary capillaries in 1661, thereby demonstrating the direct connection between arteries and Veins.

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Prominent Anatomists of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance