Le Corps Respirant: La pensee physiologique chez Galien

This volume seeks to provide an alternative approach to the theory of respiration and physiological thinking of Galen, a second-century Greek physician. The method involves reconstructing Galen’s theoretical and experimental research in the structure and context of his reasoning. The book deals with the problem of muscular respiratory movement, the structure and function of organs such as the heart, lungs and pulmonary vessels, and the purpose of breathing. Other topics include bodily respiration (diapnoe), asphyxia, miasmas and other pathological processes. The book ends with a study of breathing and vocal exercises in the Graeco-Roman world. This reassessment of several questions that are fundamental to the history of medicine seeks to provide a better understanding of an important contribution to Western medical thought.