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Early cultures See also: History of the world, History of agriculture, and History of medicine The earliest humans must have had and passed on knowledge about plants and animals to increase their chances of survival. This may have included knowledge of human and animal anatomy and aspects of animal behavior (such as migration patterns). However, the first major turning point in biological knowledge came with the Neolithic Revolution about 10,000 years ago. Humans first domesticated plants for farming, then livestock animals to accompany the resulting sedentary societies.[6] The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indian subcontinent, and China, among others, produced renowned surgeons and students of the natural sciences such as Susruta and Zhang Zhongjing, reflecting independent sophisticated systems of natural philosophy. However, the roots of modern biology are usually traced back to the secular tradition of ancient Greek philosophy.[7] Ancient Chinese traditions In ancient China, biological topics can be found dispersed across several different disciplines, including the work of herbologists, physicians, alchemists, and philosophers. The Taoist tradition of Chinese alchemy, for example, can be considered part of the life sciences due to its emphasis on health (with the ultimate goal being the elixir of life). The system of classical Chinese medicine usually revolved around the theory of yin and yang, and the five phases.[8] Taoist philosophers, such as Zhuangzi in the 4th century BCE, also expressed ideas related to evolution, such as denying the fixity of biological species and speculating that species had developed differing attributes in response to differing environments.[9] Ancient Indian traditions One of the oldest organised systems of medicine is known from the Indian subcontinent in the form of Ayurveda which originated around 1500 BCE from Atharvaveda (one of the four most ancient books of Indian knowledge, wisdom and culture). The ancient Indian Ayurveda tradition independently developed the concept of three humours, resembling that of the four humours of ancient Greek medicine, though the Ayurvedic system included further complications, such as the body being composed of five elements and seven basic tissues. Ayurvedic writers also classified living things into four categories based on the method of birth (from the womb, eggs, heat & moisture, and seeds) and explained the conception of a fetus in detail. They also made considerable advances in the field of surgery, often without the use of human dissection or animal vivisection.[10] One of the earliest Ayurvedic treatises was the Sushruta Samhita, attributed to Sushruta in the 6th century BCE. It was also an early materia medica, describing 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources, and 57 preparations based on animal sources.[11] Ancient Mesopotamian traditions Ancient Mesopotamian medicine may be represented by Esagil-kin-apli, a prominent scholar of the 11th Century BCE, who made a compilation of medical prescriptions and procedures, which he presented as exorcisms. Ancient Egyptian traditions Over a dozen medical papyri have been preserved, most notably the Edwin Smith Papyrus (the oldest extant surgical handbook) and the Ebers Papyrus (a handbook of preparing and using materia medica for various diseases), both from the 16th Century BCE. Ancient Egypt is also known for developing embalming, which was used for mummification, in order to preserve human remains and forestall decomposition.[12] Ancient Greek traditions See also: Ancient Greek medicine Frontispiece to a 1644 version of the expanded and illustrated edition of Historia Plantarum (ca. 1200), which was originally written around 300 BC The pre-Socratic philosophers asked many questions about life but produced little systematic knowledge of specifically biological interest—though the attempts of the atomists to explain life in purely physical terms would recur periodically through the history of biology. However, the medical theories of Hippocrates and his followers, especially humorism, had a lasting impact.[13] The philosopher Aristotle was the most influential scholar of the living world from classical antiquity. Though his early work in natural philosophy was speculative, Aristotle's later biological writings were more empirical, focusing on biological causation and the diversity of life. He made countless observations of nature, especially the habits and attributes of plants and animals in the world around him, which he devoted considerable attention to categorizing. In all, Aristotle classified 540 animal species, and dissected at least 50. He believed that intellectual purposes, formal causes, guided all natural processes.[14] Aristotle, and nearly all Western scholars after him until the 18th century, believed that creatures were arranged in a graded scale of perfection rising from plants on up to humans: the scala naturae or Great Chain of Being.[15] Aristotle's successor at the Lyceum, Theophrastus, wrote a series of books on botany—the History of Plants—which survived as the most important contribution of antiquity to botany, even into the Middle Ages. Many of Theophrastus' names survive into modern times, such as carpos for fruit, and pericarpion for seed vessel. Pliny the Elder was also known for his knowledge of plants and nature, and was the most prolific compiler of zoological descriptions.[16] A few scholars in the Hellenistic period under the Ptolemies—particularly Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Chios—amended Aristotle's physiological work, even performing dissections and vivisections.[17] Claudius Galen became the most important authority on medicine and anatomy. Though a few ancient atomists such as Lucretius challenged the teleological Aristotelian viewpoint that all aspects of life are the result of design or purpose, teleology (and after the rise of Christianity, natural theology) would remain central to biological thought essentially until the 18th and 19th centuries. Ernst W. Mayr argued that "Nothing of any real consequence happened in biology after Lucretius and Galen until the Renaissance."[18] The ideas of the Greek traditions of natural history and medicine survived, but they were generally taken unquestioningly in medieval Europe.[19] Medieval and Islamic knowledge See also: Islamic medicine, Byzantine medicine, and Medieval medicine A biomedical work by Ibn al-Nafis, an early adherent of experimental dissection who discovered the pulmonary circulation and coronary circulation. The decline of the Roman Empire led to the disappearance or destruction of much knowledge, though physicians still incorporated many aspects of the Greek tradition into training and practice. In Byzantium and the Islamic world, many of the Greek works were translated into Arabic and many of the works of Aristotle were preserved.[20] Medieval Muslim physicians, scientists and philosophers made significant contributions to biological knowledge between the 8th and 13th centuries during what is known as the "Islamic Golden Age" or "Muslim Agricultural Revolution". In zoology, for example, the Afro-Arab scholar al-Jahiz (781–869) described early evolutionary ideas[21][22] such as the struggle for existence.[23] He also introduced the idea of a food chain,[24] and was an early adherent of environmental determinism.[25] The Persian biologist Al-Dinawari (828–896) authored the Book of Plants, in which he described at least 637 species and discussed plant development, plant growth and the production of flowers and fruit.[26] Persian polymath Abu Rayhan Biruni described the idea of artificial selection and argued that nature works in much the same way, an idea that has been compared to natural selection.[27] In experimental medicine, the Persian physician Avicenna (980–1037) introduced clinical trials and clinical pharmacology in The Canon of Medicine,[28] which remained an authoritative text in European medical education up until the 17th century.[29][30] The Andalusian-Arabian physician Avenzoar (1091–1161) was an early adherent of experimental dissection and autopsy, which he carried out to prove that the skin disease scabies was caused by a parasite, a discovery which upset the theory of humorism.[31] He also introduced experimental surgery,[32] where animal testing is used to experiment with surgical techniques prior to using them on humans.[33] During a famine in Egypt in 1200, Abd-el-latif observed and examined a large number of skeletons, and he discovered that Galen was incorrect regarding the formation of the bones of the lower jaw and sacrum.[34] In the early 13th century, the Andalusian-Arabian biologist Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati developed an early scientific method for botany, introducing empirical and experimental techniques in the testing, description and identification of numerous materia medica, and separating unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and observations.[35] His student Ibn al-Baitar (d. 1248) wrote a pharmaceutical encyclopedia describing 1,400 plants, foods, and drugs, 300 of which were his own original discoveries. A Latin translation of his work was useful to European biologists and pharmacists in the 18th and 19th centuries.[36] The Arabian physician Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288) was another early adherent of experimental dissection and autopsy,[37][38] who in 1242 discovered pulmonary circulation[39] and coronary circulation,[40][41] which form the basis of the circulatory system.[42] He also described the concept of metabolism,[43] and discredited the incorrect Galenic and Avicennian theories on the four humours, pulsation,[44] bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals, esophagus and stomach.[37] De arte venandi, by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was an influential medieval natural history text that explored bird morphology. During the High Middle Ages, a few European scholars such as Hildegard of Bingen, Albertus Magnus and Frederick II expanded the natural history canon. The rise of European universities, though important for the development of physics and philosophy, had little impact on biological scholarship.[45] |
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