Why did Claude Bernard consider physical and chemical sciences important to physiology?

Claude Bernard, a foundational figure in experimental medicine, argued that physical and chemical sciences are essential to physiology because they provide the necessary foundation for understanding how life functions.

In his seminal work, An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, Bernard emphasized that while physiology is not entirely reducible to these sciences, biology relies on the recognition that vital processes are mechanistically determined by physico-chemical forces. By moving away from the vague concept of a "vital force" to explain life, Bernard helped establish the principles of experimentation that underpin modern homeostasis and the study of the body's "internal environment," or milieu intérieur.12