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Chapter Six - Thomas Willis

Anatomy of the Brain and Its Vasculature

from Part II - Basic Knowledge, Sixteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2022

Louis R. Caplan
Affiliation:
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre
Aishwarya Aggarwal
Affiliation:
John F. Kennedy Medical Center
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Summary

Thomas Willis was born on January 27, 1621, in a small village within Great Bedwyn, UK, a prosperous wool town that housed between 1,500 and 2,000 inhabitants. He was the oldest child among three sons and three daughters. When he was 10, his mother died. Thomas walked two miles each day to and from Sylvester’s Academy, a local private school that had a reputation for providing a classical education in Latin and Greek. When he was 16, he began to matriculate at the University of Oxford as a servitor to Dr. Thomas Iles, a canon of Christ Church. Servitors were usually bright lads from humble circumstances who performed menial tasks in exchange for free housing and tuition [1–3]. Ms. Iles, though not a trained physician, practiced medicine and was described as a knowing woman in physic and surgery who performed many cures [1]. Willis spent ample time with her during his tutelage. Willis graduated as a bachelor of Arts in 1639, and three years later, after more attendance at lectures and teaching, he received a master of arts degree. Thomas intended to be ordained as an Anglican clergyman.

Type
Chapter
Information
Stories of Stroke
Key Individuals and the Evolution of Ideas
, pp. 31 - 36
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Notes and References

Zimmer, C. Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain and How It Changed the World. New York: William Heinemann (Random House), 2004.Google Scholar
Dewhurst, K. Willis’s Oxford Lectures. Oxford: Sanford Publications, 1980.Google Scholar
O’Connor, JPB. Thomas Willis and the background to Cerebri anatome. J. R. Soc. Med. 2003 Mar;96(3):139143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, R. The Invisible College (1645–1658). Technical Education Matters. December 12, 2010. Available at https://technicaleducationmatters.org/2010/12/12/the-invisible-college-1645-1658/.Google Scholar
Lower, R. Tractatus de corde: Item de motu et colore sanguinis. London: John Redmayne for James Allestry, 1669.Google Scholar
Fastag, E, Varon, J, Sternbach, G. Richard Lower: The origins of blood transfusion. J. Emerg. Med. 2013;44:11461150.Google Scholar
Willis, T. Cerebri anatome: Cui accessit nervorum descriptio et usus. London: J. Flesher, 1664.Google Scholar
Fields, WS, Lemak, NA. A History of Stroke: Its Recognition and Treatment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.Google Scholar
Lo, WB, Ellis, H. The circle before Willis: A historical account of the intracranial anastomosis. Neurosurgery. 2010 Jan;66(1):718; discussion 17–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, T. Instructions and prescripts for curing the apoplexy. In Portage, S (ed.), The London Practice of Physic. London, 1679.Google Scholar
Willis, T. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing the Apoplexy. The London Practice of Physic or the Whole Practical Part of Physic. 1679.Google Scholar
Caplan, LR. C. Miller Fisher: Stroke in the Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.Google Scholar

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