Post-Grecian biological studies

With Aristotle and Theophrastus, the great Greek period of scientific investigation came to an end. The most famous of the new centres of learning were the library and museum in Alexandria. From 300 bc until around the time of Christ all significant biological advances were made by physicians at Alexandria. One of the most outstanding of these men was Herophilus, who dissected human bodies and compared their structures to those of other large mammals. He recognized the brain, which he described in detail, as the centre of the nervous system and the seat of intelligence. Based on his knowledge, he wrote a general anatomical treatise, a special one on the eyes, and a handbook for midwives.

Erasistratus, a younger contemporary and reputed rival of Herophilus who also worked at the museum in Alexandria, studied the valves of the heart and the circulation of blood. Although he was wrong in supposing that blood flows from the veins into the arteries, he was correct in assuming that small interconnecting vessels exist. He thus suspected (but did not see) the presence of capillaries; he thought, however, that the blood changed into air, or pneuma, when it reached the arteries, to be pumped throughout the body.

Perhaps the last of the ancient biological scientists of note was Galen of Pergamum, a Greek physician who practiced in Rome during the middle of the 2nd century ad. His early years were spent as a surgeon at the gladiatorial arena, which gave him the opportunity to observe details of human anatomy. But this was an age when it was considered improper to dissect human bodies, and, as a result, detailed study was not possible. Thus, though Galen’s research on animals was thorough, his knowledge of human anatomy was faulty. Because his work was extensive and clearly written, Galen’s writings, nevertheless, dominated medicine for centuries to come.

The Arab world and the European Middle Ages

After Galen there were no further biological investigations for many centuries. It is sometimes claimed that the rise of Christianity was the cause of the decline in science; this, however, is not a tenable viewpoint, for science was already virtually dead by the end of the 2nd century ad, a time when Christianity was still an obscure sect. It is true, however, that the rise of Christianity did not favour the questioning attitude of the Greeks.

Arab domination of biology

During the almost 1,000 years that science was dormant in Europe, the Arabs, who by the 9th century had extended their sphere of influence as far as Spain, became the custodians of science and dominated biology, as they did other disciplines. At the same time, as the result of a revival of learning in China, new technical inventions flowed from there to the West. The Chinese had discovered how to make paper and how to print from movable type, two achievements that were to have an inestimable effect upon learning. Another important advance that also occurred during this time was the introduction into Europe from India of the so-called Arabic numerals.

From the 3rd until the 11th century biology was essentially an Arab science. Although they themselves were not great innovators, they discovered the works of such men as Aristotle and Galen, translated them into Arabic, studied them, and wrote commentaries about them. Of the Arab biologists, al-Jāḥiẓ, who died about 868, is particularly noteworthy. Among his biological writings is Kitāb al-ḥayawān (“Book of Animals”), which, although revealing some Greek influence, is primarily an Arabic work. In it, the author emphasized the unity of nature and recognized relationships between different groups of organisms. Because al-Jāḥiẓ believed that the Earth contained both male and female elements, he found the Greek doctrine of spontaneous generation (life emerging from mud) to be quite reasonable.

Ibn Sīnā, or Avicenna as he is better known, was an outstanding Persian scientist around the beginning of the 11th century; he was the true successor to Aristotle. His writings on medicine and drugs, which were particularly authoritative and remained so until the Renaissance, did much to bring the works of Aristotle back to Europe, where they were translated into Latin from Arabic.

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