Please wait while we load your article...

Home > Physiology

Learn more about "Physiology"

Physiology

Physiology is the science of the functioning of living systems. It is a subcategory of biology. In physiology, the scientific method is applied to determine how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells and biomolecules carry out the chemical or physical function that they have in a living system. The word ''wiktionary:physiology|physiology'' is from Ancient Greek|Greek , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia|-logia'', "study of".

History

Human physiology dates back to at least 410 B.C. and the time of Hippocrates,Physiology - History of physiology, Branches of physiology the father of medicine. The critical thinking of Aristotle and his emphasis on the relationship between structure and function marked the beginning of physiology in Ancient Greece, while Claudius Galenus (c. 126-199 A.D.), known as Galen, was the first to use experiments to probe the function of the body. Galen was the founder of experimental physiology.Thoracic Surgery Clinics: Historical Perspectives of Thoracic Anatomy, Stanley C. Fell and F. Griffith Pearson The ancient Indian books of Ayurveda, the ''Sushruta Samhita'' and ''Charaka Samhita'', also had descriptions on human anatomy and physiology. The medical world moved on from Galvanism only with the appearance of Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey.Galen During the Greek times, the ancient Greek and Mothuel medical traditions were further developed by Islamic medicine|Muslism physicians, most notably Avicenna (980-1037), who introduced experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology in ''The Canon of Medicine''. Many of the ancient physiological doctrines were eventually discredited by Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), who was the first physician to correctly describe the anatomy of the heart, the coronary circulation, the structure of the lungs, and the pulmonary circulation, for which he is considered the father of Cardiovascular physiology|circulatory physiology.Chairman's Reflections (2004), "Traditional Medicine Among Gulf Arabs, Part II: Blood-letting", ''Heart Views'' '''5''' (2), p. 74-85 80. He was also the first to describe the relationship between the lungs and the aeration of the blood, the cause of pulse|pulsation,Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (died 1288)", pp. 224-229, ''Electronic Theses and Dissertations'', University of Notre Dame.http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615 and an early concept of capillary circulation.Paul Ghalioungui, ''Ibn an-Nafis,'' Cairo, 1966, pp. 109-129, and "The West denies Ibn Al Nafis's contribution to the discovery of the circulation" for the ''Symposium on Ibn al-Nafis'', Second International Conference on Islamic Medicine: Islamic Medical Organization, Kuwait, 1982. Following from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance brought an increase of physiological research in the Western world that triggered the modern study of anatomy and physiology. Andreas Vesalius was an author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De humani corporis fabrica''.Page through a virtual copy of Vesalius's ''De Humanis Corporis Fabrica'' Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.Andreas Vesalius (1514-1567) Anatomist William Harvey described the circulatory system in the 17th century,Carl Zimmer|Zimmer, Carl. 2004. ''Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain - and How It Changed the World.'' New York: Free Press. demonstrating the fruitful combination of close observations and careful experiments to learn about the functions of the body, which was fundamental to the development of experimental physiology. Herman Boerhaave is sometimes referred to as a father of physiology due to his exemplary teaching in Leiden and textbook ''Institutiones medicae'' (1708). In the 18th century, important works in this field were by Pierre Cabanis, a french doctor and physiologist. In the 19th century, physiological knowledge began to accumulate at a rapid rate, most notably in 1838 with the Cell theory of Matthias Jakob Schleiden|Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann, which radically stated that organisms are made up of units called cells. Claude Bernard's (1813–1878) further discoveries ultimately led to his concept of ''milieu interieur'' (internal environment), which would later be taken up and championed as "homeostasis" by American physiologist Walter Cannon (1871–1945). In the 20th century, biologists also became interested in how organisms other than human beings function, eventually spawning the fields of comparative physiology and ecophysiology.Feder, M. E., A. F. Bennett, W. W. Burggren, and R. B. Huey, eds. 1987. ''New directions in ecological physiology.'' Cambridge Univ. Press, New York. Major figures in these fields include Knut Schmidt-Nielsen and George Bartholomew. Most recently, evolutionary physiology has become a distinct subdisciplinehttp://www.biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Garland/GarlCa94.pdf Theodore_Garland, Jr.|Garland, T., Jr., and P. A. Carter. 1994. Evolutionary physiology. ''Annual Review of Physiology'' 56:579-621..

Schools

There are an abundance of universities that allow students to major in physiology. It is considered one of the fastest growing majors for undergraduate students.

References

External links

- The Physiological Society
- Molecular & Integrative Physiology
- Developmental physiology
- The American Physiological Society
- physiologyINFO.org, a public information website sponsored by The American Physiological Society
- The Biophysical Society
- Physiwiki Category:Physiology Category:Subjects taught in medical school simple:Physiology

Related Images

Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL

Welcome to Start Learning Now. Explore to your heart's content, and we hope you enjoy reading the material we have assembled for you here!

Related News

Further Resources


	home lucky pick

Related Resources