ABSTRACT
Perfusion computed tomography (CT) has been made possible by the joining together of two great medical specialities: anatomy and physiology. It is important for us today as doctors and scientists to look back into history and to our predecessors, at the state of knowledge from ancient up to modern times, as well as looking forward to the possibilities and dreams to which we aspire. J B Thornton wrote ‘The more we treat the theories of our predecessors as myths, the more inclined we shall be to treat our own theories as dogmas’.1 By looking back through history we are able to see the grand schemes and ideas developing over time and the continuity of ideas from great thinkers which can be added to and extended to attain new levels of knowledge by our own thinkers today. This chapter does not attempt to mention all the important thinkers and achievers who helped anatomy and physiology become what they are together. It would be an impossible task. Rather, by dipping in and out of history, we will attempt to cover some of the more major scientists, philosophers and physicians who contributed to making perfusion CT what it is today.
