Antonio Maria Valsalva was best known as an Italian anatomist. He was born in 1666 and lived in the Baroque period when most of the world, particularly Italy, was more concerned with the arts. Theatre and cultural enlightenment seemed more important than medicine and pursuits involving medical research. In Italy, the rise of great painters and sculptures had just begun.
Valsalva learned all that he could about the humanities, math, and the natural sciences. He studied medicine and philosophy in Bologna. His focus and research was primarily on the ears when he began to study the anatomy closer. Throughout his career and his lifetime, he would be dedicated to his medical focus.
Valsalva was taught by Marcello Malpighi. Marcello discovered what would later be referred to as microscopic anatomy. Valsalva would attend graduate school and he would graduate from medical school in 1687. He would go on to gain an appointment as a Professor of Anatomy in Bologna. Silent success was eminent.
Throughout his lifetime and career, Valsalva was able to study and then teach various disciplines. His disciplines of interest included science, surgery, anatomy, physiology, and psychiatry. Antonio Valsalva will best be remembered for his contributions in anatomy where he was able to come up with the term the "Eustachian tube" to describe a crucial area of the ear.
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