Crivellato Enrico, Ribatti Domenico
Department of Medical and Morphological Research, Anatomy Section, University of Udine Medical School, Udine, Italy.
Clin Anat. 2007 Jul;20(5):447-85. doi: 10.1002/ca.20432.
Aristotle is principally known as a theoretical philosopher and logician but he was also an eminent natural scientist. In particular, he should be considered probably the first anatomist in the modern sense of this term and the originator of anatomy as a special branch of knowledge. Although it seems certain that he did not perform dissections of human adult cadavers, he examined human fetal material and, above all, made systematic analysis of animal bodies. His contribution to comparative anatomy, as well as to human anatomy, was enormous. He founded the anatomical discipline on precise descriptive and scientific ground. He also coined a series of technical terms, which are still in use in the modern nomenclature. His observational skill was astounding. Although many of his physiological concepts turned out to be wrong, still his structural description of organs and body parts was often first-rank. The present study will chiefly focus on Aristotle's anatomical work and will provide only essential mention of his complex physiological and philosophical doctrine. The main purpose of this article is indeed to offer to today's anatomists a systematic account of the extraordinary achievements of this great pioneer of our discipline.
亚里士多德主要以理论哲学家和逻辑学家而闻名，但他也是一位杰出的自然科学家。特别是，他或许应被视为现代意义上的首位解剖学家以及作为一门特殊知识分支的解剖学的创始人。尽管似乎可以确定他没有对成年人体尸体进行解剖，但他研究了人类胎儿材料，而且最重要的是，对动物身体进行了系统分析。他对比较解剖学以及人体解剖学的贡献是巨大的。他在精确的描述和科学的基础上建立了解剖学学科。他还创造了一系列技术术语，这些术语至今仍在现代命名法中使用。他的观察技巧令人惊叹。尽管他的许多生理学概念后来被证明是错误的，但他对器官和身体部位的结构描述往往是一流的。本研究将主要聚焦于亚里士多德的解剖学著作，对于他复杂的生理学和哲学学说仅作必要提及。本文的主要目的实际上是为当今的解剖学家系统地介绍这位我们学科伟大先驱的非凡成就。
