The Father Of Anatomy And A Great Anatomist Herophilus
Who is the father of anatomy? Briefly describe his life and achievements.
Answer.
Herophilus (325–280 BC) is considered the father of anatomy.
- He was a Greek physician and was regarded as the founder of the school of medicine at Alexandria, the then capital of Egypt. He taught anatomy in this medical school through vivisections (dissections of living humans) and dissections of human cadavers.
- Herophilus provided great descriptions of the skull, eye, various visceral organs, and their relationships. He also described the functional relationship of the spinal cord to the brain. Herophilus regarded the brain as the seat of intelligence and described many of its structures such as the cerebrum, cerebellum, and the 4th ventricle.
- He was the first to identify that nerves are either sensory or motor. He is also credited with the discovery of the ovum. Two monumental works of Herophilus were titled On Anatomy and On the Eyes.
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