The Time Line of Biology: Most Important Discoveries

The Timeline of biology Is the set of events that shaped this science throughout human history.

Certainly it is not possible to trace every advance that might have been made since its inception, but that does not imply that during its development there have been no revealing discoveries that enabled its evolution.

In this sense, it is necessary to establish when the concept of what today is understood by biology began to develop and how it was progressing within a historical context.

Depending on this approach, those moments that have more meaning for the discipline, the time in which they were given, who were the protagonists and their contributions will be seen more clearly.

Biology Timeline

The ancient world

For many experts, the neolithic revolution (10,000 years ago) represents a very important step.

That moment of history meant the beginning of agriculture, the domestication of animals and the establishment of more sedentary cultures. When making a tour of old cultures, you can establish the following:

• Egyptian Tradition . In the sixteenth century BC. You can find notable traces such as papyrus Edwin Smith or papyrus Ebers, which speak of surgery and preparation of remedies to treat diseases. Egyptians are also known for embalming and mummification.
• Mesopotamian culture . By the 11th century BC, the medicine of this town was headed by the scholar Esagil-kin-apli, who presented his methods and prescriptions as exorcisms.
• Indian Tradition . Also known as Ayurveda, it comes from the sacred book Atharvaveda (1500 BC) and is based on the concept of the 3 humors, 5 elements and 7 basic tissues. The Indians are known for their classifications of living things, their surgical methods, and the Sushruta Samhita (6th century BC), which describes 57 animal preparations, 64 mineral formulas, and 700 medicinal plants.
• Chinese medicine . By the hand of Philosophers , Alchemists, herbalists and doctors, their development was based on the search for the elixir of life, Ying and Yang theory and even evolution. All this happened between the centuries VI and IV A.C.

The time of the Greeks (5th and 4th centuries BC)

Whether it is the timeline of biology or another science, Greek culture laid the foundations of modern thought and gave rise to the fundamental sciences. This can be seen more closely in the following chronology:

• Alcmeon de Crotonas (5th C. BC). Home to the Pythagorean insignies, this scientist practiced dissection. Although his purpose was to find intelligence, his contributions to anatomy include differentiation between veins and arteries, and the optic nerve. In this century Xenophanes examined fossils and theorized about the evolution of life.
• Hippocrates of Cos (5th and 4th centuries BC). This descendant of doctors is considered by some as the father of medicine. Its contributions include diagnosis, prevention, self-healing, dietetics, among other concepts. The Hippocratic oath remains an ethical reference in the modern world. In addition, his theory of the 4 humors remained unchanged until the 16th century.
• Aristotle (4th century BC). No doubt the most influential classical philosopher on this subject, he believed that intelligence was located in the heart. His methodical observations gave life to zoology, came to classify up to 540 animal species and dissected at least 50 of them.
• Theophrastus (4th century BC). This philosopher and pupil of Aristotle took into account the botanical work of his predecessor to continue his work. His most significant contribution was"The History of Plants,"a 9-volume treatise on botany that survived to the Middle Ages . He gave a description of the flora of the Hellenic world, its structure, behaviors and uses.
• Galen of Pergamon (2nd century BC). Doctor of gladiators and after emperors, he discovered that the arteries had no air, as was then believed, but blood. He dissected and identified cranial nerves, heart valves, infectious diseases, where the voice originates and more. Its conception of blood circulation as flow and reflux lasted until the 16th century.

After the Roman Empire (5th and 14th centuries AD)

The fall of the then most powerful kingdom of civilization meant a destruction and concealment of the knowledge that had been achieved. The most important texts were preserved in monasteries, universities began to emerge, but there was a significant development of biology, except for some specific facts:

• 1275 : The first human dissection is recorded.
• 1377 : The city of Ragusa applies the quarantine to deal with the plague of the plague .
• 1494 : The use of mercury to treat syphilis begins.

From the Renaissance to the modern era (15th and 19th centuries AD)

The call of enlightenment gave way to a great many events that would change the previous knowledge and transform it gradually. Among these notable facts, we can mention the following:

• Leonardo Da Vinci (1489-1515) . Using dissection of human bodies, his anatomical drawings (about 70) include bony structures, internal organs, muscles, the brain and the heart.
• Otto Brunfel (1530) . The appearance of the printing press meant a great change for those who observed nature. Thanks to this advance this German botanist publishes Herbarum vivae eicones (Living Plant Images), a collection of 3 volumes.
• Andreas Vesalius (1533-1543) . This famous Belgian doctor was the one who revolutionized the field of anatomy when he opposed the thought of the time (dominated by Galen). In his famous treatise De humani corporis manufactures (The structures of the human body), their illustrations are based on real bodies and not on monkeys.
• William Harvey (1628) . In his book Anatomical function of heart and blood movement in animals , This English scientist showed how the blood circulation is.
• Marcello Malpighi (1661) . This medicine theorist was the one who propelled the use of the microscope, an invention of the Dutch Zacharias Jenssen. His use of this invention led to the discovery of capillaries, which complemented Harvey's theory.
• Antoine Van Loeuwenhoek (1674) . Making use of the microscope and improving its increase with more elaborate lenses, it manages to visualize the red blood cells, sperm and bacteria in the saliva. He was the one who discovered in complete cycle of life through the flea.
• Carl von Linné (1735) . This famous Swedish classifier was the one who proposed the Linnaean or Linnaean system that is the basis of modern taxonomy. Although its classification for plants has been modified, that of animals remains the same.
• Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1809) . It is the first to propose a Evolution theory Based on the inheritance of acquired characteristics.
• Georges Cuvier (1812) . This French scientist took the study of the fossils of William Smith for the development of geology and turned it into what we now know as paleontology. Its results would become a fundamental part of the theory of evolution.
• Theodor Schwann (1836) . He was the first to propose that the tissues of animals were composed of cells.
• Louis Pasteur (1856, 64 and 78) . This renowned French scientist first discovered fermentation, then refutes the theory of spontaneous generation and also checks how germs make us sick.
• Charles Darwin (1859) . Taking as its premise natural selection, this English scientist makes one of the greatest contributions to the theory of evolution.
• Gregor Mendel (1866) . Father of modern genetics, he established the principles of heredity, known as Laws of Mendel .
• Friedrich Miescher (1869) . It is the first to isolate DNA and other acids that are essential and called nucleic acids.
• Edward Strasbourg (1884) . It is who sets the configuration of the cell And coined the term cytoplasm to describe the liquid that a cell possesses.
• Martinus Beijerinck (1898) . By filtration experiments with tobacco mosaic disease, it was shown to be caused by a virus, something smaller than a bacterium.

The modern era and its advances (s 19 to 21)

Industrialization brought with it a series of changes that were reflected in all social spheres, especially in technology, science and knowledge. This brought milestones such as:

• 1911 : Thomas H. Morgan proposes that genes are aligned on chromosomes.
• 1928 : Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin and its effects.
• 1933 : Tadeus Rachstein makes the first artificial synthesis of vitamin C.
• 1946 : US chemist Melvin Calvin explains how photosynthesis works.
• 1953 : From incomplete information, scientists James D. Watson and Francis Crick publish the double-helix structure of DNA.
• 1963 : Nikolaas Tinbergen makes clear the 4 reasons that govern the animal kingdom.
• 1981 : Martin Evans discovers the embryonic state of mother cells .
• 1983 : Kary Mullis describes the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
• nineteen ninety five : The entire genome of a living organism is published for the first time.
• nineteen ninety six : Irish scientists clone the first sheep named Dolly.
• 2001 : The first draft of the human genome is published.
• 2002 : Microbiologists succeed in producing the first polio virus from scratch.
• 2007 : Mario Capecchi creates his own gene targeting technique.

This is but a small outline of the enormous changes that this science has undergone, which continues in a clear evolution in the different branches that compose it.

References

1. Wikipedia (2017). History of Biology. Retrieved from: en.wikipedia.org
2. González Hernández, J. (2003). Hippocrates: The father of medicine?. Chair of neurology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Recovered from memoriza.com
3. History World (no date). History of Biology. Retrieved from historyworld.net.
4. Ahanono (undated). Key dates in the History of Biology. Retrieved from timetoast.com.
5. Pinto, Daniela (undated). Timeline: History of biology. Retrieved from es.scribd.com.
6. Juárez, Karen (undated). Biology timeline. Recovered from academia.edu.