Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus, often anglicized as Galen or Galen of Pergamon, was a Roman and Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher. Considered to be one of the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity, Galen influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.
An 18th-century engraving by Georg P. Busch
An interpretation of Galen's human "physiological system"
Modern statue of Galen in his home town, Pergamon
A group of physicians in an image from the Vienna Dioscurides; Galen is depicted top center.
Physiology is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and physical functions in a living system. According to the classes of organisms, the field can be divided into medical physiology, animal physiology, plant physiology, cell physiology, and comparative physiology.
Oil painting depicting Claude Bernard, the father of modern physiology, with his pupils