A history of muscle physiology: Hippocrates to 1850 (Volume I)

Abstract

[PREFACE] The history of muscle physiology is totally inspiring. It is the enthralling drama of the human mind plunging into a dark unknown. In this book I have tried to capture the excitement that I have felt in studying the contributions of those who ha,·e gone before. A note on the basic structure of this book; I haYe found it undesirable to separate the developments of muscle science from scientific advances in associated fields. Very often the same individual would contribute to advances in chemistry, physics or mathematics as ·well as to muscle physiology. Moreover, progress in other fields has frequently dictated the direction of further research in myology. Therefore, to perceive clearly the flow of muscle knowledge during the period of history covered by this and subsequent volumes, an awareness of the unfolding of scientific thought in many different areas is necessary. Such is the background I have endeavored to paint as a supporting theme for this history of muscle physiology. It has been necessary to translate a great number of French and German articles in the writing of this history. And, as often has been said, a translation is like hearing a voice through a telephone. The words may reach the ear distinctly, but the quality of the voice is often distorted. I hope that I have held such distortions to a minimum. My goal in this has been to transfer the substance of the thought, not the idiomatic structure of the original. [TRUNCATED]