Lecture 1
IN TR OD UCT IO N TO AN AT OM Y
The term "anatomy" comes from the Greek. anatome, which means “dissection”, “cutting apart”.
The main method of investigation in anatomy is the preparation, i.e. dissection of an animal's body.
Anatomy is the science of the form and structure of the organism in the process of its development and
adaptation.
1) Idealistic stage – the era of the Ancient World and is associated with the names of the ancient Greek
philosophers Plato (427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC).
2) Descriptive stage – the Middle Ages, and its typical representatives were Pierre Belon (1517-1564), who
tried to match the skeleton of a bird and a man; Thomas Willis (1622-1675) (the founder of comparative
anatomy); Geoffrey St. Hilaire (1772- 1844.
3) Microscopic stage is associated with the discovery in 1665 of Robert Hooke in the structure of plants ”cell",
later Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) described the cellular structure
of animals. It gave rise to such sciences as "cytology" and "histology."
4) Evolutionary stage relates to the theory of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) on the ways of evolution of the
animal world.
5) Experimental stage – the end of the 19th century and is associated with the works of PF Lesgaft (1837-1909)
on the mutual dependence of form and function.
