Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great (356-323B.C.) and established by the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, was the seat of learning for many famous Greek physicians. Its teachers had access to a library of some 7,000 scrolls, probably the largest collection of any country. Hellenistic Alexandria’s renowned scholars included the physiologist Erasistratus, Herophilus (c. 330-c. 260 B.C.) [1] (Figure 1)-...

Sir Richard Owen, a Lancastrian, was a prominent biologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, palaeontologist and known for coining the term dinosaur. His expertise in anatomical dissection proved to be one of his biggest assets and aided his career progression at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Zoological Society. Owen's apprenticeship in Lancaster helped him to gain expertise in anatomy...

The need for a sharable resource that can provide deep anatomical knowledge and support inference for biomedical applications has recently been the driving force in the creation of biomedical ontologies. Previous attempts at the symbolic representation of anatomical relationships necessary for such ontologies have been largely limited to general partonomy and class subsumption. We propose an on...

The "Capella Stenoniana" (Niels Stensen chapel) situated in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence is the tomb of the anatomist and founder of modern geology Niels Stensen (1638-1686). It displays commemorative plaques and contains a sarcophagus with Stensen's mortal remains. The tomb of Blessed Stensen, whose canonization process is under way, is always covered with papers with requests for i...

T HE GROWING BODY of research into the ultrastructure of the myocardial cell and the function of subcellular systems in the heart has reached proportions that make it both useful and pertinent to bring important new concepts in this area to the attention of the clinical cardiologist. Work on myocardial ultrastructure is no longer the province of the cellular anatomist and physiologist; increasi...

Anatomical spatial concepts are indispensable in educational and clinical discourse, yet a system for representing these concepts has not been proposed. Guided by explicit principles and definitions of the Digital Anatomist Foundational Model, we developed an ontology of spaces, surfaces, lines and points that are associated with anatomical structures. Ontologies for Anatomical Structure and An...

In the drawing of coitus by Leonardo da Vinci are pictured the contemporary hypotheses regarding this act. The authors analyze the mamillaruteral connection depicted by the artist and grow up to believe that this is a hypothetical kiveris vena, female vein described by Anatomist Master Nicolai Physicus from the Salerno School. The Hebrew roots were found in the name. The connection is described...

In early modern England accumulating knowledge of normal and morbid anatomy through dissecting the human body not only led to a better understanding of nature, but also defined the identity of the people who engaged in this activity. This essay analyses the relationship between systemically dismembering the dead and how this pursuit shaped the attitudes and emotions of early modern medical men ...

Variant muscles while of fundamental concern to the anatomists have primarily of academic interest to the surgeon. Muscular variations are quite common and frequently seen in the course of routine dissection of human body. The variations in the muscles may be conveniently grouped as progressive, retrogressive and atavistic [1]. The manner in which a disappeared muscle can put in an abrupt appea...