Anatomy & Cell Biology  2010;43(4):280-283

doi:10.5115/acb.2010.43.4.280

Greek anatomist herophilus: the father of anatomy.

Noel Si BAY 1 ; Boon Huat BAY

Affiliations

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Keywords

Father of anatomy; Vivisection; Human body dissection; Controversy

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

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.