Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Catholic University of Louvain;

  • Physicians and photosynthesis

    JMS Pearce Hull, England   Fig 1. Portrait of J.B. van Helmont, 1683. Wellcome Collection. Public domain. The importance of plants in nutrition and in the environment of human and animal species needs no emphasis. How plants obtain their food and how they grow were unsolved mysteries until photosynthesis was discovered. It was generally believed…

  • The beginnings of cell theory: Schleiden, Schwann, and Virchow

    JMS Pearce Hull, England   Figure 1. Robert Hooke’s pores (cells) of the cork oak. Wellcome Collection. CC BY 4.0. Every schoolchild is taught in biology about cells and their elemental importance. Students of biological and medical sciences also learn about the Schwann cell sheath that invests nerve fibers. What is less well known is…