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| Galen, yesterday. |
September AD 129 – c. 201"Arguably the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity" - Steve McLaren.
Galen contributed greatly to the understanding of numerous scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy, and logic. He wasn't a total square though - he was also the first person to successfully turn on the Bunsen burner gas and blame someone else, his write-up on the subject, 'Who's Boffed?' (AD 132) was his first published work and is still in print today.
Galen's father, the celebrated Pergamon minstrel Alexandra van Galen, died when his son was 19. This left Galen independently wealthy and his first action was to take the 1st Century equivalent of a gap year. This meant travelling widely in order to further his studies, not tooling his way around South America, growing dreadlocks and posting photos on facebook of him and his horse-faced mates up a mountain tagged with comments like 'peasant cocktails = good times' and 'chilling with the locals, laughs actually'.
Feet back on the ground, he settled at the great medical school of Alexandria long enough to learn the various schools of medical thought, making himself unpopular with other students due to his habit of reminding the teacher about homework and tests, like a big swot. Despite his love of studying he only graduated with a 2:2, much to the delight of his classmates, before returning to Pergamon to take the job of physician to the gladiators of the High Priest of Asia.
Galen made his name as a practising physician in Rome, having moved there in 162AD after a clash of personalities with John Fashanu. Again Galen found himself to be unpopular, this time among the medical community in the city who were jealous of his abilities as a physician. He was branded 'Gay Len' because of his combined interests in hygiene and anatomy, the smear campaign affected Galen so much he felt obliged to leave Rome, returning only at the behest of Emperor Marcus Aurelius after the breakout of the Antonine Plague which also became known as the Plague of Galen (and later still, the AIDS).
Galen's main interest was in human anatomy and despite the prohibition of human dissection under Roman law he made a major contribution to medicine by using pigs and primates for his research. His interest in the respiratory system started by accident when he was giving an impromptu puppet show using a pig carcass and a pair of bellows and noticed the effect the articifial ventilation had on the passed porker. This is also thought to be the origin of the Pinocchio story.
Galen's understanding of anatomy and medicine were principally influenced by the theory of humorism; advanced by Greek physicians from Hippocrates onwards, the theory held that an imbalance of any of the four fluids or 'humours' in the body would affect the health and temperament of the person. The four humours of Hippocratic medicine were slapstick, stand-up, improv and highlighting something then asking "what's all that about?”. It was this fourth humour - the McIntyre Humour (thought to narrow the eyes and make the head wobble) that attracted the most criticism and eventually led to humorism being discredited in the mid 16th Century by Andreas Vesalius in his book ‘Pull Back and Reveal’, a collection of printed descriptions and illustrations based on human dissections and mother-in-law jokes.
The full importance of Galen’s contribution to medicine was not appreciated until long after his death. His written output was so vast that it continued to reveal secrets for centuries after his death - he wrote on the benefits of colonic irrigation, invented and discredited homeopathy, collaborated (by correspondence) with Leonardo da Vinci on the air ambulance and was working on a prototype of the elastoplast at the time of his death. He wasn't always on the money though, he was less successful with the treatise 'On the benefits of an additional phallus' and his experiments on synthesising blood from a mixture of piss, honey and beetroot juice are best left on the page. Can't win them all can you. Pint of 'blood' anyone?
Galen contributed greatly to the understanding of numerous scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy, and logic. He wasn't a total square though - he was also the first person to successfully turn on the Bunsen burner gas and blame someone else, his write-up on the subject, 'Who's Boffed?' (AD 132) was his first published work and is still in print today.
Galen's father, the celebrated Pergamon minstrel Alexandra van Galen, died when his son was 19. This left Galen independently wealthy and his first action was to take the 1st Century equivalent of a gap year. This meant travelling widely in order to further his studies, not tooling his way around South America, growing dreadlocks and posting photos on facebook of him and his horse-faced mates up a mountain tagged with comments like 'peasant cocktails = good times' and 'chilling with the locals, laughs actually'.
Feet back on the ground, he settled at the great medical school of Alexandria long enough to learn the various schools of medical thought, making himself unpopular with other students due to his habit of reminding the teacher about homework and tests, like a big swot. Despite his love of studying he only graduated with a 2:2, much to the delight of his classmates, before returning to Pergamon to take the job of physician to the gladiators of the High Priest of Asia.
Galen made his name as a practising physician in Rome, having moved there in 162AD after a clash of personalities with John Fashanu. Again Galen found himself to be unpopular, this time among the medical community in the city who were jealous of his abilities as a physician. He was branded 'Gay Len' because of his combined interests in hygiene and anatomy, the smear campaign affected Galen so much he felt obliged to leave Rome, returning only at the behest of Emperor Marcus Aurelius after the breakout of the Antonine Plague which also became known as the Plague of Galen (and later still, the AIDS).
Galen's main interest was in human anatomy and despite the prohibition of human dissection under Roman law he made a major contribution to medicine by using pigs and primates for his research. His interest in the respiratory system started by accident when he was giving an impromptu puppet show using a pig carcass and a pair of bellows and noticed the effect the articifial ventilation had on the passed porker. This is also thought to be the origin of the Pinocchio story.
Galen's understanding of anatomy and medicine were principally influenced by the theory of humorism; advanced by Greek physicians from Hippocrates onwards, the theory held that an imbalance of any of the four fluids or 'humours' in the body would affect the health and temperament of the person. The four humours of Hippocratic medicine were slapstick, stand-up, improv and highlighting something then asking "what's all that about?”. It was this fourth humour - the McIntyre Humour (thought to narrow the eyes and make the head wobble) that attracted the most criticism and eventually led to humorism being discredited in the mid 16th Century by Andreas Vesalius in his book ‘Pull Back and Reveal’, a collection of printed descriptions and illustrations based on human dissections and mother-in-law jokes.
The full importance of Galen’s contribution to medicine was not appreciated until long after his death. His written output was so vast that it continued to reveal secrets for centuries after his death - he wrote on the benefits of colonic irrigation, invented and discredited homeopathy, collaborated (by correspondence) with Leonardo da Vinci on the air ambulance and was working on a prototype of the elastoplast at the time of his death. He wasn't always on the money though, he was less successful with the treatise 'On the benefits of an additional phallus' and his experiments on synthesising blood from a mixture of piss, honey and beetroot juice are best left on the page. Can't win them all can you. Pint of 'blood' anyone?
Bring back da gay dogs bruv! LOL!
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