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Santorio Santorio

Type Figure Region Italy Time 1561–1636 Also known as Santoris

Italian physician and physiologist (1561–1636) who taught at Padua, invented early thermometers and pulse meters, and pioneered quantitative experime…

Timeline

  1. 1561–1590Capodistria · Republic of VeniceBorn on the Istrian Peninsula, he studied medicine in Venice and elsewhere before going to Padua for advanced study. From an early age he showed interest in measurement and experimental methods, beginning to focus on quantitative recording of temperature and pulse.
  2. 1590–1600Padua · Republic of VeniceHe taught at the University of Padua and conducted systematic experiments. He invented a graduated thermometer and pulse meter, and designed a 'weighing chair' to record diet, excretion, and weight changes over long periods. His research in the late 1590s laid the empirical foundation for Ars de statica medicina.
  3. 1600–1636Padua · Republic of VeniceIn 1614 he published Ars de statica medicina, systematically expounding the study of the body's 'insensible perspiration' and metabolism through weighing and measurement. He continued teaching into his later years, and his quantitative methods influenced the development of modern experimental physiology.

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