Biology is one of the largest and largest sciences in the modern world. It includes a number of different sciences and sections, each of which deals with the study of certain mechanisms in the operation of living systems, their vital activity, structure, molecular structure, and so on.
One of these sciences is just an interesting, very ancient, but to this day relevant science of anatomy.
What is learning
Anatomy is a science that studies the internal structure and morphological features of the human body, as well as human development in the process of phylogenesis, ontogenesis and anthropogenesis.
The subject of anatomy is:
- the shape of the human body and all its organs;
- structure of organs and the human body;
- origin of people;
- individual development of each organism (ontogeny).
The object of study of this science is a person and all the external and internal structural features that he has.
Anatomy itself as a science has developed a very long time ago, since interest in the structure and functioning of internal organs wasalways relevant to humans. However, modern anatomy includes a number of related sections of biological science, which are closely related to it and are considered, as a rule, in a complex manner. These are sections of anatomy such as:
- Systematic anatomy.
- Topographic or surgical.
- Dynamic.
- Plastic.
- Mature.
- Comparative.
- Pathological.
- Clinical.
Thus, human anatomy is a science that studies everything that at least somehow relates to the structure of the human body and its physiological processes. In addition, this science is closely connected and interacts with such sciences that have spun off from it and become independent sciences, such as:
- Anthropology is the doctrine of man as such, his position in the system of the organic world and interaction with society and the environment. Social and biological characteristics of a human being, consciousness, psyche, character, behavior.
- Physiology is the science of all processes occurring inside the human body (mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness, inhibition and excitation, nerve impulses and their conduction, humoral and nervous regulation, and so on).
- Comparative anatomy - studies the embryonic development and structure of different organs, as well as their systems, while comparing animal embryos of different classes, taxa.
- Evolutionary doctrine - the doctrine of the origin and formation of man from the time of appearance on the planet to the present day (phylogeny), as well as proof of the unity of the wholebiomass of our planet.
- Genetics - the study of the human genetic code, the mechanisms for storing and transmitting hereditary information from generation to generation.
As a result, we see that human anatomy is a completely harmonious complex combination of many sciences. Thanks to their work, people know a lot about the human body and all its mechanisms.
History of the development of anatomy
Anatomy discovers its roots in ancient times. Indeed, from the very appearance of a person, he was interested in knowing what is inside him, why, if he gets hurt, blood flows, what it is, why a person breathes, sleeps, eats. All these questions have haunted many representatives of the human race since ancient times.
However, the answers to them did not come immediately. It took more than one century to accumulate a sufficient amount of theoretical and practical knowledge and give a complete and detailed answer to most questions about the work of the human body.
The history of the development of anatomy is conditionally divided into three main periods:
- anatomy of the ancient world;
- anatomy of the Middle Ages;
- new time.
Let's consider each stage in more detail.
Ancient world
The peoples who became the founders of the science of anatomy, the first people who were interested in and described the structure of the internal organs of man, were the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Persians. Representatives of these civilizations gave rise to anatomy as a science, comparative anatomy andembryology, as well as evolution and psychology. Let's take a closer look at their contributions in the form of a table.
| Time Frame | Scientist | Opening (deposit) |
|
Ancient Egypt and Ancient China XXX - III c. BC e. |
Doctor Imhotep | The first to describe the brain, heart, the movement of blood through the vessels. He made his discoveries on the basis of an autopsy during the mummification of the corpses of pharaohs. |
| Chinese book "Neijing" | Described human organs such as the liver, lungs, kidneys, heart, stomach, skin, brain. | |
| Indian scripture "Ayurveda" | A rather detailed description of the muscles of the human body, descriptions of the brain, spinal cord and canal, types of temperaments are determined, types of figures (body builds) are characterized. | |
| Ancient Rome 300-130 AD BC e. | Herophilus | The first to dissect corpses in order to study the structure of the body. Created a descriptive and morphological work "Anatomy". Considered the parent of the science of anatomy. |
| Erazistratus | I thought everything was made of small particles, not liquids. He studied the nervous system, opening the corpses of criminals. | |
| Doctor Rufio | Described many organs and gave them a name, studied the optic nerves, made a direct relationship between the brain and nerves. | |
| Marine | Created descriptions of the palatine, auditory, vocal and facial nerves, some parts of the gastrointestinal tract. In total, he wrote about 20 compositions, the originals of which are notpreserved. | |
| Galen | Created more than 400 works, 83 of which were devoted to descriptive and comparative anatomy. He studied wounds and the internal structure of the body on the corpses of gladiators and animals. Doctors were trained on his works for about 13 centuries. The main mistake was in the theological views on medicine. | |
| Celsus | Introduced medical terminology, invented a ligature for ligation of vessels, studied and described the basics of pathology, diet, hygiene, surgery. | |
| Persia (908-1037) | Avicenna | The human body is controlled by four main organs: the heart, testis, liver and brain. Created a great work "The Canon of Medicine". |
| Ancient Greece VIII-III c. BC e. | Euripides | On animals and the corpses of criminals, he was able to study the portal vein of the liver and describe it. |
| Anaxagoras | Described the lateral ventricles of the brain | |
| Aristophanes | Discovered the presence of two meninges | |
| Empedocles | Described the ear labyrinth | |
| Alcmeon | Described the ear tube and optic nerve | |
| Diogenes | Described many organs and parts of the circulatory system | |
| Hippocrates | Created the doctrine of blood, mucus, yellow and black bile as the four fundamental fluids of the human body. Great doctor, his works are still used today. Accepted observation and experience, denied theology. | |
| Aristotle | 400 works from various branches of biology, inincluding anatomy. He created many works, considered the soul to be the basis of all living things, spoke about the similarity of all animals. Made a conclusion about the hierarchy in the origin of animals and humans. |
Middle Ages
This period is characterized by devastation and decline in the development of any science, as well as the dominance of the church, which forbade dissections, research and the study of anatomy on animals, considered it a sin. Therefore, significant changes and discoveries were not made at this time.
But the Renaissance, on the contrary, gave many impetus to the current state of medicine and anatomy. The main contributions were made by three scientists:
- Leonardo da Vinci. He can be considered the founder of plastic anatomy. He applied his artistic talents for the benefit of anatomy, created over 700 drawings accurately depicting muscles and the skeleton. The anatomy of the organs and their topography are shown to them clearly and correctly. For work, he was engaged in autopsy.
- Yakov Silvius. Teacher of many anatomists of his time. Opened furrows in the structure of the brain.
- Andeas Vesalius. A very talented doctor who devoted many years to a thorough study of anatomy. He made his observations on the basis of the autopsy of corpses, learned a lot about the bones from the materials collected at the cemetery. The work of his whole life is a seven-volume book "On the structure of the human body." His works caused opposition among the masses, since in his understanding anatomy is such a science that should be studied in practice. This contradicted the writings of Galen, whowere at that time in high esteem.
- William Harvey. His main work was the treatise "Anatomical study of the movement of the heart and blood in animals." He was the first to prove that blood moves in a vicious circle of vessels, from large to small through the smallest tubes. He also owns the first statement that each animal develops from an egg and in the process of its development repeats the entire historical development of the living as a whole (modern biogenetic law).
- Fallopius, Eustachius, Willis, Glisson, Azelli, Peke, Bertolini are the names of those scientists of this era who, through their work, gave a complete picture of what human anatomy is. This is an invaluable contribution that gave rise to a modern start in the development of this science.
New time
This period belongs to the XIX - XX centuries and is characterized by a number of very important discoveries. All of them could be accomplished thanks to the invention of the microscope. Marcello Malpighi supplemented and substantiated practically what Harvey once predicted - the presence of capillaries. The scientist Shumlyansky confirmed this with his work, and also proved the cyclicity and closedness of the circulatory system.
Also, a number of discoveries made it possible to reveal the concept of "anatomy" in more detail. These were the following works:
- Galvani Luigi. This man made a huge contribution to the development of physics, as he discovered electricity. However, he also managed to consider the presence of electrical impulses in animal tissues. So he becamefounder of electrophysiology.
- Caspar Wolf. He refuted the theory of preformism, which claimed that all organs exist in a reduced form in the germ cell, and then simply grow. Became the founder of embryogenesis.
- Louis Pasteur. As a result of many years of experiments, he proved the existence of bacteria. Developed vaccination methods.
- Jean Baptiste Lamarck. He made a huge contribution to evolutionary teachings. He was the first to suggest that a person, like all living things, develops under the influence of the environment.
- Karl Baer. He discovered the reproductive cell of the female body, described the germ layers and gave rise to the development of knowledge about ontogeny.
- Charles Darwin. He made a huge contribution to the development of evolutionary teachings and explained the origin of man. He also proved the unity of all life on the planet.
- Pirogov, Mechnikov, Sechenov, Pavlov, Botkin, Ukhtomsky, Burdenko - the names of Russian scientists of the XIX-XX centuries, who gave a complete understanding that anatomy is a whole science, complex, multifaceted and comprehensive. Medicine owes their work in many respects. It was they who became the discoverers of the mechanisms of immunity, higher nervous activity, the spinal cord and nervous regulation, as well as many issues of genetics. Severtsov founded a direction in anatomy - evolutionary morphology, which was based on the biogenetic law (authors - Haeckel, Darwin, Kovalevsky, Baer, Müller).
Anatomy owes its development to all these people. Biology is a whole complex of sciences, but anatomy is the oldest and most valuable of them, as it affectsthe most important thing is human he alth.
What is clinical anatomy
Clinical anatomy is an intermediate section between topographic and surgical anatomy. It considers questions of a structure of the general plan of any concrete body. For example, if we are talking about the larynx, then the doctor before the operation needs to know the general position of this organ in the body, what it is connected with and how it interacts with other organs.
Today, clinical anatomy is very widespread. You can often find expressions in the clinical anatomy of the nose, pharynx, throat, or any other organ. Here, clinical anatomy will tell you exactly what components this organ is made up of, where it is located, what it borders on, what role it plays, and so on.
Each specialist doctor knows the full clinical anatomy of the organ he is working on. This is the key to successful treatment.
Age anatomy
Age anatomy is a section of this science that studies human ontogenesis. That is, it considers all the processes that accompany it from the moment of conception and the stage of the embryo until the end of the life cycle - death. At the same time, the main foundation for age-related anatomy is gerontology and embryology.
The founder of this section of anatomy can be considered Karl Bar. It was he who first suggested the individual development of each living being. Later this process was called ontogeny.
Age anatomy givesunderstanding of the mechanisms of aging, which is important for medicine.
Comparative Anatomy
Comparative anatomy is a science whose main task is to prove the unity of all life on the planet. Specifically, this science is engaged in comparing embryos of different animal species (not only species, but also classes, taxa) and identifying common patterns in development.
Comparative anatomy and physiology are closely related structures that study one common question: how do embryos of different creatures look and function in comparison to each other?
Pathological Anatomy
Pathological anatomy is a scientific discipline that deals with the study of pathological processes in the cells and tissues of a human being. This makes it possible to study various diseases, view the impact of their course on the body and, accordingly, find methods of treatment.
The tasks of pathological anatomy are as follows:
- to study the causes of various diseases in humans;
- consider the mechanisms of their occurrence and flow at the cellular level;
- identify all possible complications in pathologies and options for the outcome of diseases;
- to study the mechanisms of death from diseases;
- consider causes of failure to treat pathologies.
The founder of this discipline is Rudolf Virchow. It was he who created the cellular theory, which speaks of the development of diseases at the level of cells and tissues of the human body.
Topographic anatomy
Topographic anatomy is a scientific discipline, otherwise referred to as surgical. It is based on the division of the human body into anatomical regions, each of which is located in a certain part of the body: the head, trunk or limbs.
The main objectives of this science are:
- detailed structure of each area;
- syntopia of organs (their location relative to each other);
- connection of organs with skin (holotopy);
- blood supply to each anatomical region;
- lymph drainage;
- nervous regulation;
- skeletotopia (in relation to the skeleton).
All these tasks are formed under the conditions of principles: study taking into account diseases, pathologies, age and individual characteristics of organisms.
