The oldest of these medical centers was in Croton, and is most famous member was Alcmaeon.
Alcmaeon of Croton is the most important figure in the history of Greek medicine before Hippocrates. He was a Greek natural philosopher and physician significant for his theory of health and disease and for his investigations into the nature of the sense organs.
He was born in 510 BC and was a disciple of Pythagoras.
According to Chalcidius, Alcmaeon of Croton practices dissection and is said to have been the first man to make dissections. He was also the first to study the structure of the eye. He observed that the eye contained water. He also concluded that the eye contained light and that this light was necessary for vision
Alcmaeon of Croton was the first writer to champion the brain as the site of sensation and cognition.
He rejected earlier conceptions of disease as something possessing a separate existence of its own. He maintained that disease is due to the disturbance of the body’s natural equilibrium.
Alcmaeon of Croton
