HISTORY 



contribution to zoology was his method of study. He 

 gathered first-hand knowledge about animals and presented 

 his facts in a scientific way. Locy says, "the influence of 

 Aristotle was in the right direction. He made a direct 

 appeal to nature for his facts, and founded his Natural 

 History only on observation of the structure, physiology, 

 and development of animals." Aristotle's best books, the 

 " History of Animals," the " Parts of Animals," and the 

 " Generation of Animals," were authoritative for twenty 

 centuries. Aristotle led an active public life, being a 

 student of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great. 



FIG. 2. Aristotle. (From Locy, 

 Biology and Its Makers.) 



FIG. 3. Pliny. (From Locy, 

 Biology and Its Makers.) 



PLINY, 23-79 A.D., was a Roman general and writer. 

 He wrote thirty-seven voluminous and uncritical volumes 

 on natural history. His works were filled with tales of 

 dragons, gorgons, and other fabled monsters, so that it 

 was impossible to separate fact from fiction. His influence 

 was highly detrimental to the progress of zoological thought, 

 but his works, nevertheless, were authoritative during the 

 middle ages. 



GALEN, 130-200 A.D., was a Greek physician. He was 

 the great anatomist of antiquity and his clear and forceful 

 descriptions were the sole anatomical guides in the medical 

 schools for twelve centuries after his time. He was a 

 sound thinker and accurate observer. Galen probably 

 never actually dissected the human body, but wrote his 



