:for the man identified by valerius maximus as herophilus, see amatius. herophilos (; ), sometimes latinized herophilus (335â280 bc), was a greek physician deemed to be the first anatomist. born in chalcedon, he spent the majority of his life in alexandria. he was the first scientist to systematically perform scientific dissections of human cadavers and recorded his findings in over nine works which are all lost. he was an early pioneer of the scientific method. together with erasistratus he is regarded as a founder of the great medical school of alexandria. ==life== herophilos was born in chalcedon in asia minor (now kadikÃ¶y, turkey), c.&nbsp;325 bc. not much is known about his early life other than that he had moved to alexandria at a fairly young age to begin his schooling. as an adult herophilos was a teacher, and an author of at least nine texts ranging from his book titled, on pulses, which explored the flow of blood from the heart through the arteries, to his book titled midwifery, which discussed duration and phases of childbirth. in alexandria, he practiced dissections, often publicly so that he could explain what he was doing to those who were fascinated. erasistratus was his contemporary. together, they worked at a medical school in alexandria that is said to have drawn people from all over the ancient world due to herophilos' fame. his works are lost but were much quoted by galen in the second century ad. herophilos was the first scientist to systematically perform scientific dissections of human cadavers. dissections of human cadavers were banned in most places at the time, except for alexandria. celsus in de medicina and the church leader tertullian state that he vivisected at least 600 live prisonersgalen. on semen. delacy p (trans.) akademie verlag, 1992. p.147 l.22 after the death of herophilos 255 bc, his anatomical findings lived on in the works of other important physicians, notably galen. even so dissections were performed in the following centuries and medieval times only few insights were added. dissecting with the purpose to gain knowledge about human anatomy started again in early modern times (vesalius), more than 1600 years after herophilos' death. ==medicine== herophilos is thought to be one of the founders of the scientific method. he emphasized the use of experimental method in medicine, for he considered it essential to found knowledge on empirical bases. conventional medicine of the time revolved around the theory of the four humors in which an imbalance between bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood led to sickness or disease. veins were believed to be filled with blood and a mixtur
280_BC_deaths Ancient_Chalcedonians Ancient_Greek_physicians Greek_anatomists History_of_neuroscience