The Anatomist and Physiologist: Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was known as one of the greatest artist in history and, in some cases, that is all that is known about him. Although, they have seen many of the pieces that he has created, they may not realize that he was much more than just an artist. Da Vinci was an architect, astronomer, anatomist, physiologist, and aeronautical engineer, among so many other things. Even though, according to his writings, his scientific endeavors were strictly to improve himself as an artist, the extent of the research is indicative of so much more. Leonardo da Vinci was a pioneer in anatomy and physiology by being the first to identify and elaborate on the functions and structure of the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal systems accurately. However, the most tragic thing is that, out of all the chapters he wrote on anatomy and physiology, the only thing that is left of his anatomical studies is a collection of sketches. (Wise, 1-3)

Leonardo da Vinci's interests went beyond the musculoskeletal system and delved into an understanding of the inner structures and functions of a human body. Through his studies and experiments, he made many great breakthroughs. He was the first to describe the origins and insertions of the muscle groups, as well as depict the relationship between the agonist and the antagonist muscle groups. When he was performing his dissections he used many different variables. It is said that he used human cadavers as well as animals. Those varied from oxen to bears to bats. Through this dissection of cadavers he was able to accurately depict the vertebral columns, including the correct number of vertebrae. Also through a sketch he created, he was able to demonstrate the anatomic relationships and functional significance of the lower extremities. He was also able to display the production of motion by each muscle. (Wise, 2)

Although, Leonardo da Vinci's had many accomplishments in musculoskeletal system, he didn't stop there. His interests soon moved onto the cardiovascular system. Leonardo da Vinci supported the galenic theory of a perforate interventricular septum. Among his accomplishments of being the first to correctly locate things, recognizing the four chambers of the heart, accurately describing the valves of the heart, designing a model of the bioprosthetic valve, classifying the heart as a muscle and demonstrating the coronary circulation. It seems as though this was the most successful part Leonardo da Vinci's research as an anatomist and physiologist due to all of the parts of the body that he was the first to discover. There are many indications that this topic may have fascinated him the most and that may have contributed to his many accomplishments in this field. He obviously had to do some pretty extensive research to find out all of these things. (Wise, 2)

Although he made a few mistakes in his observations of the gastrointestinal system, his accomplishments outweighed