Author/Editor		Zorec, Robert
Title		Kdaj razumemo naravne pojave? Kratka zgodovina fiziologije
Translated title		A short history of physiology
Type		članek
Source		Proteus
Vol. and No.		Letnik 64, št. 1
Publication year		2001
Volume		str. 8-15
Language		slo
Abstract		At its start Physiology was investigating all natural phenomena including alive and material processes. Today this science investigates only life-related phenomena. This interdisciplinary field of biological research deals with studies of single cells, tissues, organs, aiming at integrating the acquired knowledge from all levels into the understanding of the functioning of whole organisms. In order to understand the functioning of organisms we need to rationalise, we need to break the subject under study into smaller, but somehow related categories. This approach has been used throughout the history of Physiology, from the ancient Greeks-Aristotles, Herophylus, Erasistratus, through Galen to the Renaissance scientists such as Harvey, up to the present day. Although conclusions from research in those periods are different as highlighted in comparison with the understanding of the cardiovascular system as studied by Galen and Harvey, the common denominator in these efforts and the take-home message of this article is that research requires a thorough rationalization of the subject studied.
Descriptors		PHYSIOLOGY HOMEOSTASIS