 Claudius Galen
The most famous doctor in the Roman Empire was a Greek, named Galen, born in Pergamum. His parents gave him an education that prepared him to be a philosopher, but at the age of 16, he changed his mind and decided to become a doctor. He studied in Greece, in Alexandria and other parts of Asia Minor and returned home to become chief physician to the gladiator school in Pergamum.
Galen was very ambitious and set his sights on Rome. A combination of self-promotion, skill with otherwise 'incurable' patients, vast knowledge and, as is often the case, good connections made him well-known around town.
An outbreak of plague in Rome forced him back to Pergamum, but in 168-9 he returned to Italy to serve as physician to Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius during a military campaign in Northern Italy. Galen then went back to Rome with Aurelius to serve as his personal physician. He would later serve as physician to Aurelius's successors, Commodius and Septimius Severus.
Galen was the originator of the experimental method in medical investigation, and throughout his life dissected animals in his quest to understand how the body functions. He also recommended that other doctors practice dissection as a means of discovery as well as to improve surgical skills.
Many of Galen's anatomical and physiological observations were accurate. He proved that urine was formed in the kidney (as opposed to the bladder which was common belief). He correctly identified seven of the 12 cranial nerves, discovered the valves of the heart, recognized the contagiousness of tuberculosis, and the possible spread of rabies via dogs. Galen's most important discovery was that arteries carry blood, not air.
Galen was prolific, with nearly 500 treatises to his name. In fact, Galen's influence reigned supreme over medicine for 15 centuries after his death. It's ironic that the ancient world's strongest supporter of experimentation for scientific discovery would go unquestioned for such a long time. By the Renaissance, when man's critical thinking skills returned, many of Galen's notions were finally refuted by people such as Vesalius and Harvey.
Galen's most lasting technique, one that survived his discreditation during the Renaissance, is the taking of the pulse - still done by doctors to this day.
|
Bookmark with:
What are these?