1628-1694

Italian Physician and Biologist

Marcello Malpighi was an Italian physician and biologist who pioneered experimental methods to study living organisms with the aid of the newly invented microscope, thereby founding the science of microscopic anatomy. After Malpighi's contributions, microscopic anatomy became essential for advancing the fields of physiology, embryology, and medicine. He is often called the father of histology (the microscopic study of tissues) because of his work with tissue and cell samples. He helped to change many of the antiquated ideas regarding medicine with his discoveries. As an example, he was the first to demonstrate that capillaries connect small arteries and veins, completing the circuit of blood at the tissue. This discovery provided the factual data to support English physician Willam Harvey's (1578-1657) groundbreaking and controversial theory of the circulation of blood (1628). For almost 40 years Malpighi used the microscope to describe the major types...