title: Historical development of the concept of a pulmonary circulation.
abstract: Philosophical speculations and theories regarding the flow of blood through the lungs are reviewed from an historical standpoint. Michael Servetus (1511-1553) described the pulmonary circulation in his book 'Christianismi Restitutio', published in 1553. From manuscripts that were rediscovered and translated in 1924 we now know that Ibn al-Nafis (1210-1288) of Damascus had made the same observations three centuries earlier.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Persaud
mesh_terms: D006115:Greece; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D007558:Italy; D008514:Medicine, Arabic; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D013030:Spain