Physiology
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2008-06-27T00:32:40Z
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[[Image:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[Vitruvian Man]]'', an important early achievement in the study of [[physiology]].]]
'''Physiology''' (from Greek: φυσις, ''physis'', “nature, origin”; and λόγος, ''[[logos]]'', "speech" lit. "to talk about the nature (of things)") is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of [[living organisms]].
Physiology has traditionally been divided between [[plant physiology]] and [[Physiology#Human and animal|animal physiology]] but the principles of physiology are universal, no matter what particular [[organism]] is being studied. For example, what is learned about the physiology of [[yeast]] [[cell biology|cells]] may also apply to [[human]] cells.
The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of [[human physiology]] to non-human animal [[species]]. Plant physiology also borrows techniques from both fields.
Its scope of subjects is at least as diverse as the [[tree of life]] itself. Due to this diversity of subjects, research in animal physiology tends to concentrate on understanding how physiological traits changed throughout the [[timeline of evolution|evolutionary history]] of animals.
Other major branches of scientific study that have grown out of physiology research include [[biochemistry]], [[biophysics]], [[paleobiology]], [[biomechanics]], and [[pharmacology]].
==History==
Physiology can trace its roots back more than two millennia to [[classical antiquity]], to the Greek and Indian medical traditions. The critical thinking of [[Aristotle]] and his emphasis on the relationship between structure and function marked the beginning of physiology in Greece, while Claudius Galenus (c. 126-199), known as [[Galen]], was the first to use experiments to probe the function of the body. The ancient Indian books of [[Ayurveda]], the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'' and ''[[Charaka Samhita]]'', also had descriptions on human anatomy and physiology.
During the [[Middle Ages]], the ancient Greek and Indian medical traditions were further developed by [[Islamic medicine|Muslim physicians]], most notably [[Avicenna]] (980-1037), who introduced [[experimentation]] and [[quantification]] into the study of physiology in ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]''. Many of the ancient physiological doctrines were eventually discredited by [[Ibn al-Nafis]] (1213-1288), who was the first physician to correctly describe the [[anatomy]] of the [[heart]], the [[coronary circulation]], the structure of the [[lungs]], and the [[pulmonary circulation]], for which he is considered the father of [[Cardiovascular physiology|circulatory physiology]].<ref>Chairman's Reflections (2004), "Traditional Medicine Among Gulf Arabs, Part II: Blood-letting", ''Heart Views'' '''5''' (2), p. 74-85 [80].</ref> He was also the first to describe the relationship between the lungs and the [[aeration]] of the [[blood]], the cause of [[pulse|pulsation]],<ref>Nahyan A. G. Fancy (2006), "Pulmonary Transit and Bodily Resurrection: The Interaction of Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in the Works of Ibn al-Nafīs (d. 1288)", pp. 224-229, ''Electronic Theses and Dissertations'', [[University of Notre Dame]].[http://etd.nd.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-11292006-152615]</ref> and an early concept of [[capillary]] circulation.<ref name=Paul>Dr. Paul Ghalioungui (1982), "The West denies Ibn Al Nafis's contribution to the discovery of the circulation", ''Symposium on Ibn al-Nafis'', Second International Conference on Islamic Medicine: Islamic Medical Organization, Kuwait ([[cf.]] [http://www.islamset.com/isc/nafis/drpaul.html The West denies Ibn Al Nafis's contribution to the discovery of the circulation], ''Encyclopedia of Islamic World'')</ref>
Following from the Middle Ages, the [[Renaissance]] brought an increase of physiological research in the [[Western world]] that triggered the modern study of anatomy and physiology. [[Anatomist]] [[William Harvey]] described the [[circulatory system]] in the 17th century,<ref>Zimmer, Carl. 2004. ''Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain - and How It Changed the World.'' New York: Free Press.</ref> demonstrating the fruitful combination of close observations and careful experiments to learn about the functions of the body, which was fundamental to the development of experimental physiology. [[Herman Boerhaave]] is sometimes referred to as a father of physiology due to his exemplary teaching in Leiden and textbook 'Institutiones medicae' (1708).
In the 19th century, physiological knowledge began to accumulate at a rapid rate, most notably with [[Matthias Schleidan]] and [[Theodor Schwann]]'s [[Cell theory]] which radically stated in 1838 that organisms are made up of units called cells, along with [[Claude Bernard]]'s (1813-1878) many discoveries that ultimately led to his concept of, ''' interieur''' (internal environment) which would later be taken up and championed as ''''''[[Homeostasis]]'''''' by American physiologist [[Walter Cannon]] (1871-1945).
In the 20th century, biologists also became interested in how organisms other than human beings function, eventually spawning the fields of [[comparative physiology]] and [[ecophysiology]]<ref>Feder, M. E., A. F. Bennett, W. W. Burggren, and R. B. Huey, eds. 1987. ''New directions in ecological physiology.'' Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.</ref> Major figures in these fields include [[Knut Schmidt-Nielsen]] and [[George Bartholomew]]. Most recently, [[evolutionary physiology]] has become a distinct subdiscipline.<ref>Garland, T., Jr., and P. A. Carter. 1994. Evolutionary physiology. ''Annual Review of Physiology'' 56:579-621. http://www.biology.ucr.edu/people/faculty/Garland/GarlCa94.pdf</ref>
==See also==
* [[Comparative physiology]]
* [[Ecophysiology]]
* [[Evolutionary physiology]]
* [[Physiome]]
* [[The Physiological Society]]
==References==
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==External links==
{{Wiktionarypar|physiology}}
* [http://www.intellecttoday.com Scientific Discussion - Physiology]
* [http://www.physiology.info Physiology.info]
* [http://www.physoc.org The Physiological Society]
* [http://www.biol.unt.edu/developmentalphysiology/ Developmental physiology]
* [http://www.the-aps.org/ The American Physiological Society]
* [http://www.biophysics.org/ The Biophysical Society]
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[[Category:Physiology]]
[[Category:Subjects taught in medical school]]
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