Stephen Hales: Theologian, botanist, physiologist, discoverer of hemodynamics

Abstract

Stephen Hales was born on September 17, 1677, in the village of Bekesbourne in Kent.He was the sixth and last son of Thomas and Mary Hales, one of the oldest and most distinguished families in Kent.'S2Following early education in private schools, Hales attended Bene't College (Corpus Christi) in Cambridge at age 19 to study theology and become an Anglican priest.He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at age 22 (1699).At age 26 (1703), he became a Fellow of the College, received his Master of Arts degree, and was ordained as deacon of a local parish in Bugden.It was in Cambridge about 1708 that Hales apparently conducted his initial animal experiments on the pressure, flow, and resistance of the circulation.By current standards it is somewhat unusual that a recently ordained priest should initiate invasive studies on the nature of the circulation.However, his seven years of college had provided a very liberal education in classics, mathematics, and science, in addition to theology and philosophy.Moreover, his keen interest in science was obviously kindled by a remarkable premed student, William Stukeley, who amved in Cambridge in 1704.3Together they studied anatomy, attended the physics lectures of William Whiston and the chemistry lectures of Vagagni.They made a variety of dog and frog dissections in the laboratory space vacated by Sir Isaac Newton who had recently accepted a new position in London.Hales, a disciple of Newtonian

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