History of anatomy

The history of anatomy extends from the earliest examinations of sacrificial victims to the sophisticated analyses of the body performed by modern scientists. It has been characterized, over time, by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body.

The study of anatomy begins at least as early as 1600 BC, the date of the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. This treatise shows that the heart, its vessels, liver, spleen, kidneys, hypothalamus, uterus and bladder were recognized, and that the blood vessels were known to emanate from the heart. Other vessels are described, some carrying air, some mucus, and two to the right ear are said to carry the "breath of life", while two to the left ear the "breath of death".The Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BC) features a treatise on the heart. It notes that the heart is the center of blood supply, and attached to it are vessels for every member of the body. The Egyptians seem to have known little about the function of the kidneys and made the heart the meeting point of a number of vessels which carried all the fluids of the body – blood, tears, urine and semen. However, they did not have a theory as to where saliva and sweat came from.

Nomenclature, methods and applications for the study of anatomy all date back to the Greeks. The early scientist Alcmaeon began to construct a background for medical and anatomical science with the dissection of animals. He identified the optic nerves and the tubes later termed the Eustachius. Others such as Acron (480 BC), Pausanias (480 BC), and Philistion of Locri made investigations into anatomy. One important figure during this time was Empedocles (480 BC) who viewed the blood as the innate heat which he acquired from previous folklore. He also argued that the heart was the chief organ of both the vascular system and the pneuma (this could refer to either breath or soul; it was considered to be distributed by the blood vessels).

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