1621-1675

British Physician

Thomas Willis was a British physician and the leader of the English iatrochemists, a group of scientists who strived to explain bodily functions and disease from a chemical standpoint. Willis's research laid the foundational text on the anatomy of the central nervous system.

Willis was born on January 27, 1621, in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, England. As did many men of his time, Willis chose to follow a career in the church. His early pursuit of the ministry, however, was thwarted when the English Civil War broke out. After deciding that such a career would be risky, he turned to medicine. He alternated between the classroom at Oxford University and the battlefield as he fought for the Royalist Army from 1643-1646.

For 15 years Willis served as an Oxford professor of natural philosophy. In 1660 he was appointed Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy. When the anatomist began his...