Marcello Malpighi

Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694) was an Italian physician and biologist who used microscopy to investigate anatomy, including the structure of organs and tissues.

Microscopy: The use of microscopes to study objects too small to see clearly with the unaided eye. Microscopy let Malpighi examine tissues and structures inaccessible to unaided observation.
Pulmonary circulation: The movement of blood from the heart to the lungs and back. Malpighi examined the lung’s vessels to explain how blood passed between arteries and veins.
University of Bologna: A university in Bologna, Italy, founded in the eleventh century. Malpighi studied and taught medicine there, conducting much of his anatomical research.
Nephron: The kidney’s functional microscopic unit, responsible for filtering blood and processing urine. Malpighi’s descriptions of renal structures preceded later accounts of the nephron’s organization.
Compound microscope: An optical instrument that uses multiple lenses to magnify an object. Malpighi used compound microscopes to inspect fine anatomical structures.
Alveolus: A tiny air sac in the lung where gas exchange occurs. His lung studies described the small air spaces and their relation to surrounding vessels.
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli: An Italian physiologist and mathematician who applied mechanical ideas to living organisms. Borelli’s scientific circle influenced Malpighi’s approach to anatomy and physiology.
Pulmonary alveolus: A microscopic lung air sac surrounded by capillaries, where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. His lung observations foreshadowed the anatomical study of gas-exchanging surfaces.
Histology: The study of the microscopic structure of tissues. His tissue observations helped lay foundations for the later study of histology.
Renal corpuscle: A kidney structure comprising a capillary tuft enclosed by a capsule, where blood filtration begins. Malpighi described the kidney’s filtering structures, later named Malpighian corpuscles.

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