Aristotle (384-322 BC) followed closely after Hippocrates and although not himself a physician, had a profound effect on medical thought and practice for succeeding centuries.
Indeed he can regarded as one of the greatest scientific geniuses the world has ever seen. Aristotle was the son of a physician, and a pupil of Plato; later he became tutor to the young Alexander the Great.
Although Aristotle never dissected a human being, he carried out anatomical studies of a wide range of animals, laid the foundation of embryology by studying the developing chick, and gave an accurate account of the life of bees.
He laid the basis of the doctrine of evolution, describe a ladder of nature ascending through lower plants, higher plants, insects, fish, mammals to man.
Soon after the deaths of Hippocrates and Aristotle. The great days of Athens drew to an end. The Macedonian, Alexander the Great the pupil of Aristotle conquered Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt, marched through Persia and reached India.
In his progress he founded a string of at least 17 Alexandria but it was Alexandria of Egypt that was by far the most important.
After the death of Alexander, one of his generals, Ptolemy declared himself Pharaoh, took up residence in Alexandria and there founded a great medical school and library at about 300 BC; into these institutions were imported scientist, mainly from Greece.
Unfortunately the vast library said to have contained some 700 000 manuscripts, was burned by a mob of fanatics intent on destroying the past, a phenomenon not unknown in later periods of history.
We have to rely, therefore on the writings of Galen and other authors to learn something of the Alexandria school of medicine.
Of particular fame were two surgeons, Herophilos and Erasistratos, both of whom flourished around 300 BC.
Their most important contribution was systematic dissection of human bodies; indeed, Celsus states that they actually performed vivisections on condemned criminals.
Herophilus named the duodenum and prostate and established the brain as the center of consciousness; his name survives in one of the venous sinuses of the brain.
Erasistratos is regarded by some as the founder of physiology; he distinguished the cerebrum from the cerebellum, noted the difference between sensory and motor nerves, and gave a good description of the heart valves.
With the absorption of Egypt into Roman Empire in 50 BC and with death of Cleopatra in 30 BC, marking the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty, Alexandria ceased to have medical influence and Rome became of central importance.
Aristotle and the end of Athens
