Thomas Willis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Thomas Willis
Willis in 1667
Born	27 January 1621 Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
Died	11 November 1675 (aged 54) London
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Known for	Circle of Willis
Spouse(s)	Mary Fell
Scientific career
Fields	Anatomy Neurology Psychiatry

Thomas Willis FRS (born January 27, 1621 – died November 11, 1675) was an important English doctor. He made big contributions to the study of the human body (anatomy), the brain and nerves (neurology), and mental health (psychiatry). He was also one of the first members of the Royal Society, a famous group for scientists.

Life of Thomas Willis

Willis was born on his family's farm in Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire. His father managed the local manor. He earned his Master of Arts degree from Christ Church, Oxford in 1642. During the English Civil War, he supported the King (a Royalist). His family farm was taken by the Roundheads, who supported Parliament.

In the 1640s, Willis was one of the doctors for King Charles I. After becoming a qualified doctor in 1646, he started working in Abingdon.

Willis was a strong supporter of the Church of England. In the 1650s, a church group met at his home. He married Mary Fell, whose father had been removed from his position at Christ Church. Mary's brother, John Fell, later wrote about Willis's life.

Willis hired Robert Hooke as an assistant from 1656 to 1658. Hooke later became a famous scientist. Willis was part of a group of scientists at Oxford. This group included John Locke, a famous philosopher, and Christopher Wren, a famous architect. Wren's sister, Susan Holder, was also skilled in healing.

Willis and another doctor, William Petty, helped treat Anne Greene. She was a woman who survived being hanged. Many people thought her survival was a miracle. This event helped Willis become more well-known.

Willis lived in Oxford from 1657 to 1667. He published two important medical books in 1656 and 1659. In 1664, he published a book about the brain. This book was based on experiments he did with others. From 1660 until he died, he was a professor at Oxford. He became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1661.

Later, Willis moved to Westminster, London, and became a successful doctor. He combined his knowledge of anatomy with different medical ideas of his time. He treated many patients, including the philosopher Anne Conway.

Willis's Research and Discoveries

Thomas Willis was a pioneer in studying the brain, nervous system, and muscles. His most famous discovery is the "Circle of Willis." This is a special circle of arteries at the base of the brain. It helps make sure the brain gets enough blood.

In his 1664 book, Cerebri anatome, Willis described the brain and nerves in great detail. This book was the first to use the word neurology, which is the study of the nervous system. He worked with others, including Sir Christopher Wren, who drew pictures for the book. This work was much more detailed than what doctors knew before.

In 1667, Willis wrote another important book about brain diseases. In it, he shared new ideas about what causes epilepsy and other seizure disorders. He also helped develop the field of psychiatry, which deals with mental health. In 1672, he wrote the first English book on medical psychology. It was called Two Discourses concerning the Soul of Brutes, which is that of the Vital and Sensitive of Man.

Willis was the first to number the cranial nerves in the way doctors do today. These are nerves that come directly from the brain. He also described many parts of the brain, like the corpus callosum and the thalamus. He named the Pons, a part of the brainstem. He also described how the main arteries in the neck connect to the brain.

Willis believed that the brain's outer layer, called the cortex, was where thinking happened. He thought that the more folds a brain had, the smarter the animal. He also believed that voluntary movements (like moving your arm) came from the cortex, while involuntary movements (like breathing) came from the cerebellum.

He was also one of the first to study diabetes. An old name for diabetes was "Willis's disease." He noticed that the urine of people with diabetes tasted sweet. This was something people in India, China, and the Arab world had known for a long time. However, he did not invent the term mellitus for diabetes. His observations on diabetes were included in his 1674 book. Willis was also the first to identify a swallowing problem called achalasia cardia in 1672.

Willis's Influence

Willis's work became well-known in France through the writings of Daniel Duncan. His discoveries about the brain were also used by philosophers. For example, Richard Cumberland used Willis's findings to argue against some of Thomas Hobbes's ideas. Many of Willis's books were owned by famous people, including Sir Thomas Browne and his son Edward Browne, who was a president of the Royal College of Physicians.

Willis's Family

Thomas Willis had five daughters and four sons with his first wife, Mary Fell. Four of their children lived past early childhood. After Mary died in 1670, he married Elizabeth Calley in 1672. They did not have any children together.

His grandson, Browne Willis, became an antiquary (someone who studies old things). Between 1724 and 1730, Browne Willis rebuilt St. Martin's Church in Fenny Stratford. He built it to honor his grandfather, Thomas Willis, who died on St. Martin's Day.

Works

• 1663 Diatribae duae medico-philosophicae – quarum prior agit de fermentatione on Google Books
• 1664 Cerebri anatome: cui accessit nervorum descriptio et usus
• 1667 Pathologiae Cerebri et Nervosi Generis Specimen
• 1672 De Anima Brutorum
• 1675 Pharmaceutice rationalis. Sive Diatriba de medicamentorum operationibus in humano corpore on Google Books
• 1675 A plain and easie method for preserving (by God's blessing) those that are well from the infection of the plague, or any contagious distemper, in city, camp, fleet, &c., and for curing such as are infected with it
• 1677 Pharmaceutice rationalis sive diatriba de medicamentorum operationibus in humano corpore Digital version of Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf
• 1681 Clarissimi Viri Thomae Willis, Medicinae Doctoris, Naturalis Philosophiae Professoris Oxoniensis ... Opera Omnia : Cum Elenchis Rerum Et Indicibus necessariis, ut & multis Figuris aeneis Digital version of Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf
• 1683 Dissertation sur les urines tirée des ouvrages de Willis Digital version

See also

In Spanish: Thomas Willis para niños