Malpighi
Marcello Malpighi was the first anatomist to incorporate the microscope in his studies.
The microscope was invented by Hans Jansen, a Dutch spectacle-maker, in 1590 and was modified by Galileo in 1609. Its possibilities for biological studies, however, came approximately 50 years later, when Robert Hooke improved it. Then Malpighi, Hooke, Nehemiah Grew and Antoine van Leeuwenhoek began their investigations using the new tool. Hooke studied mainly insects, and was the creator of the word cell for describing biological organisms. Grew was a vegetable anatomist. Leeuwenhoek manufactured many microscopes (of high quality for that time) and actually made important discoveries, such as bacteria (large Selenomonads from the human mouth), the vacuoles of the cells, the banded pattern of muscular fibers and the spermatozoa (for this discovery he had serious disagreements with the Dutch theologists).
But Malpighi was a physician, and was, therefore, the creator of a medical discipline, Microscopic Anatomy.
He was born on March 10, 1628 at a small city called Crevalcore, near Bologna. At the age of 17 he went to study at the University of Bologna and following his graduation was appointed Professor of Anatomy.
Retiring from University life to his villa in the country, he worked as a physician, continuing, however, to conduct experiments on plants and insects. He had many discussions with other physicians that did not like his many disagreements with Galen’s theories.
When he was 38 years old he decided to dedicate his free time to anatomical studies. Although he also dissected cadavers, most of his studies were based on the use of the microscope. He studied the structure of the lungs, previously thought to be a homogeneous mass of flesh, and he offered an explanation for how air and blood mixed in the lungs. Besides the lungs, Malpighi also studied the skin, the kidneys, and the liver.
He often expressed his belief that the view of his contemporaries, that the insects originated from diseased areas in herbs and trees, could not be true. He was sure that they arose from eggs previously laid in the plant tissues.
Many microscopic anatomical structures bear his name, such as a skin layer (Malpighi layer), Malpighian corpuscles in the kidneys and spleen, and the Malpighian tubules in the excretory system of insects.
He was the first scientist to see capillaries in animals, thus discovering the link between arteries and veins that William Harvey had been unable to find. He may also have been the discoverer of the red blood cells.
He died in Rome on November 29, 1694 and was buried in Bologna, at the church of the Santi Gregorio e Siro, where there is a marble monument with an inscription in Latin remembering him for his “great genius, honest life, strong and tough mind, daring love for the medical art.”
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| Marcello Malpighi - Wikimedia Commons |
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| Hooke's microscope, employed by Malpighi - Wikimedia Commons |
He was born on March 10, 1628 at a small city called Crevalcore, near Bologna. At the age of 17 he went to study at the University of Bologna and following his graduation was appointed Professor of Anatomy.
Retiring from University life to his villa in the country, he worked as a physician, continuing, however, to conduct experiments on plants and insects. He had many discussions with other physicians that did not like his many disagreements with Galen’s theories.
When he was 38 years old he decided to dedicate his free time to anatomical studies. Although he also dissected cadavers, most of his studies were based on the use of the microscope. He studied the structure of the lungs, previously thought to be a homogeneous mass of flesh, and he offered an explanation for how air and blood mixed in the lungs. Besides the lungs, Malpighi also studied the skin, the kidneys, and the liver.
He often expressed his belief that the view of his contemporaries, that the insects originated from diseased areas in herbs and trees, could not be true. He was sure that they arose from eggs previously laid in the plant tissues.
Many microscopic anatomical structures bear his name, such as a skin layer (Malpighi layer), Malpighian corpuscles in the kidneys and spleen, and the Malpighian tubules in the excretory system of insects.
He was the first scientist to see capillaries in animals, thus discovering the link between arteries and veins that William Harvey had been unable to find. He may also have been the discoverer of the red blood cells.
He died in Rome on November 29, 1694 and was buried in Bologna, at the church of the Santi Gregorio e Siro, where there is a marble monument with an inscription in Latin remembering him for his “great genius, honest life, strong and tough mind, daring love for the medical art.”
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