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How did Claude Bernard use experiments to advance physiology?

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Diagram explaining ATP's role in powering cellular activities, with arrows showing ATP produced by mitochondria, chloroplasts, and glycolysis, and used for making biomolecules, transporting substances, and driving energy-requiring processes; includes a structural diagram of ATP with labeled adenine, ribose, and phosphate groups. — Physiology Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the power source of many biochemical reactions. It is produced in the cell structures and system listed at the left to energize the important life processes listed on the right. An abbreviated chemical formula of the structure of ATP is also shown. The two high-energy P―O―P bonds are responsible for its power.

Claude Bernard revolutionized physiology by shifting the field away from the era's reliance on vitalism and aimless empiricism toward a rigorous, hypothesis-driven methodology. He established himself as a founder of experimental medicine by demonstrating that an experimenter must possess a guiding hypothesis to be either confirmed or refuted by empirical results.12

Bernard’s approach was defined by several key principles:
* Mechanistic Determination: He argued that life processes are governed by physico-chemical forces, meaning biology should be studied through the lens of physical and chemical sciences.2
* The Internal Environment: His most seminal contribution was the concept of the milieu intérieur, or "internal environment," which provided the foundation for our modern understanding of homeostasis.12
* Experimental Rigor: He maintained that vivisection was an indispensable tool for physiological research.2

Through his work, including his influential text An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, Bernard successfully argued that medicine must be founded upon experimental physiology to progress.2