The Italian physician and physiologist Sanctorius (1561-1636) is noted for his application of quantitative methods to the study of human physiology and pathology.

Sanctorius, the Latin name of Santorio Santorio, was born on March 29, 1561, at Capo d'Istria. The University of Padua, the leading medical institution of the period, provided his medical education between 1575 and 1582. After receiving his medical degree, he practiced as a physician up to 1599 in Croatia (Yugoslavia), where he had been invited by some Croatian nobility. In 1611 he assumed the chair of theoretical medicine at Padua and held this distinguished post until 1624, when he went to Venice. He died in Venice on Feb. 22, 1636. He endowed an annual lectureship at Padua, which is still continued.

As is typical of many pioneers, Sanctorius, without realizing the full value of his ideas, recognized the necessity of measurement in medicine. Therefore he directed all his energies toward one goal: the...