(circa 129 – 216 AD)

Claudius Galen was the most capable physician of ancient Europe. His theories not only trounced those of Hippocrates, they dominated the European school of thought for more than a millennium. He researched mostly on anatomy, physiology, pathology and pharmacology. And his successes helped entice numerous scholars into studying and advancing medical science. His extensive publications on anatomy (which used primates and ungulates as specimens) remained in vogue for more than 1000 years: until Andreas Vesalius revolutionized anatomy with human specimens. But in spite of all his revolutionary advances, Vesalius still considered his predecessor’s works too important to be discarded. Hence, he revived them via translations from Greek to Latin. It is generally assumed that the reason why Galen’s anatomical investigations excluded human dissections was because the Roman ordinance (of those days) forbade dismemberment of cadavers. Galen also ventured into other scientific fields: as embodied by the prevailing Natural Philosophy. Regarding expertise and accomplishments, he is widely acknowledged as Europe’s foremost clinician. He purportedly published over 500 treatises (in various topics). Howbeit, less than half of them survived. And as depicted by these survivors, his philosophies improved upon the ideas of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Claudius Galen of Pergamon was so endorsed that Emperor Marcus Aurelius of Rome, Sage Athenaeus of Naucratis, and Sage Alexander of Aphrodisias deemed him the first among physicians, as well as the most versed philosopher of that era. Among other items, both the Galenic formulation and the 10-kilometer-wide Galen lunar crater are named in his honor.

 

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45 Comments

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