History of sports medicine - 1601-1650

1601

The Italian physician, mathematician and philosopher Galilei (1564-1642) correlated his own pulse with the pendulum movements of a clock.

1602

The Italian Professor of Medicine Santorio Santorio (1561-1636) described the pulsilogium in his in 1602 published book 'Methodi vitandorum errorum in arte medica',.

The pendulum was the first device that counted the pulse and was based on the pendulum clock of Galilei (1564-1642). Santorio also invented the clinical thermometer.

1604

"Nothing is or will ever be more significant and necessary in the medical sciences as the observation of the pulse,"

a quote from the Italian physician Hercules Saxonia (1551-1607), also known under the name Ercole Sassonia.

1610

Austrian physician Hippolytus Guarinonius (1571-1654) published the book 'Die Greuel der Verwüstungs des menschliches Geschlechts' ('The abomination of the desolation of the human race'), in which he emphasized the role of sports in 112 pages.

1628

In 1628, the Belgian-Dutch fencing instructor Gerard Thibault (1574-1627) published his 'l'Academie de l'Epée', which influenced many European anatomists and physiologists in their scientific research into physical activity, with analyzes of body relations in fencing.

1628

British physician William Harvey (1578-1657) highlights the existence of the great blood circulation and the role of the heart

1631

The English physician Robert Fludd (1574-1637) wrote the Latin book 'Pulsus', in which he, as a mystic, stated that many aspects of human physiology and many diseases were influenced by the wind, the stars and the planets. In his opinion, the pulse was influenced by the four cardinal points.

1648

The French physician Jean Pecquet (1622-1674) is recognized in his own country as one of the pioneers of physiology. He was the first to describe the ductus thoracicus or the large breast tube, an important collection channel of the lymphatic system.

1649

The Italian physiologist, mathematician and physicist Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608-1679) published 'De motu animalium' in which he analyzed the muscle movements of animals.

The work was a milestone in the study of the biomechanics of the human body. He discovered that muscles could develop forces that were proportional to their structure.

1650

The British physician and anatomist Frances Glisson (1597-1777) wrote an important monograph on rickets. Glisson also described patients with achondroplasia which he considered to be fetal rickets. In his monograph there is a clinical description of infantile scurvy. Spinal deformities were apparently very common and most were thought to be due to rickets. He treated it with massages and gymnastics exercises.