Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 496

GIOVANNI ALFONSO BORELLI (1608-1679) De motu animalium. Ex typographia Angeli Bernabò 1680-1681 Vol. I: [12] 376 [12] pp., 14 plates; Vol. II: [4] 520 pp., 4 plates. 20.3 cm.

Pupil of Galileo and teacher of Malpighi, Borelli's lasting fame is his dominating influence in the establishment of the Iatrophysical School of thought, which sought to interpret all physiological phenomena by the laws of mathematics and physics. The flourishing school of anatomy at Padua had given place to a new breed of scientists who wanted to study the functional aspects of anatomy. A Neapolitan mathematician, Borelli set up a laboratory in his home in Pisa in order to make application of mechanical laws to all physical phenomena. He regarded the human body essentially as a machine, its functions explained by the laws of physics. Though he carried this principle beyond the actual fact, he did make some original discoveries pertaining to the mechanics of respiration and circulation. He particularly investigated the action of muscles, and De motu animalium includes extensive calculations on the motor forces of muscles. The illustrations showing human beings and animals in various positions of muscle exertion could only have been conceived by one who was primarily a physicist and not an anatomist.

Cited references: Cushing B499; Garrison-Morton 762; Osler 2087; Wellcome II, p. 204 (1685 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.