author
Thomas Willis
1621–1675
A pioneering 17th-century physician, this Oxford doctor helped turn the brain and nervous system into serious subjects of scientific study. He is still remembered for careful anatomical work that gave medicine terms and ideas that lasted for centuries.
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About the author
Born in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, in 1621, Thomas Willis studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and built his career during a time of political upheaval and rapid scientific change. He served the Royalist side during the English Civil War, later practiced medicine in Oxford, and became part of the circle of natural philosophers who helped shape early modern science.
Willis is best known for his studies of the brain, nerves, and circulation. His anatomical investigations and clinical observations made him a major figure in the early history of neurology, and his name lives on in the “circle of Willis,” the ring of arteries at the base of the brain. He was also among the early Fellows of the Royal Society.
Later in life he moved to London, where his medical practice grew even more prominent. He died there in 1675, leaving behind work that linked anatomy, chemistry, and bedside observation in ways that influenced physicians long after his lifetime.