On Medical Measurement

Santorio Santorio, an Italian physician, pioneered quantitative methods in medical research during the 17th century. He was the first to use precision instruments in medicine, adapting inventions like Galileo's to create a clinical thermometer and a pulse clock. Santorio's most significant work, De Statica Medicina (1614), translated as "On Medical Measurement," introduced the systematic study of basal metabolism.1

He investigated Galen's theory of "insensible perspiration" by conducting experiments on himself, meticulously measuring his body weight in relation to his intake and output. Through these studies, Santorio aimed to understand the body's processes on mechanical grounds, aligning with the iatrophysical school of medicine.12