Claudius Galen

Claudius Galen

Kelly Main (:

Who is Claudius Galen? Galen (129 - 199 AD), after Hippocrates, may be the most prominent physician of the ancient world, and certainly of the Roman era. Claudius Galen was a second century physiologist, philosopher, and writer who is often considered the most important contributor to medicine following Hippocrates.

Claudius Galen’s Views From the modern viewpoint, Galen's knowledge was partially correct, partially flawed. He demonstrated that arteries carry blood, not air and made first studies about nerve functions, brain and heart. He also argued that the mind was in the brain, not in the heart as Aristotle had claimed.

The Domination of Claudius Galen Galen's authority dominated medicine all the way to the 16th century. Experimenters' disciples did not bother to experiment and studies of physiology and anatomy stopped - Galen had already written about everything. Blood letting became a standard medical procedure.