PHYSICIAN

Life
Ancient Greek physician and anatomist, representative of the Alexandrian school. A native of Chalcedon, in Bithynia, and a disciple of Praxagoras of Cos, he lived most of his life in Alexandria. Herophilus is considered the founder of the science of anatomy and, with Hippocrates and Galen, one of the greatest physicians of the ancient world.


Work
Herophilus wrote a detailed description of the nervous system, recognising the brain as the seat of intelligence. He distinguished nerves as motor and sensory, and studied the duodenum, the liver and the venous cavities.