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Why is Giovanni Morgagni called the father of modern pathology?

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autopsy English physicians Charles Scarborough and Edward Arris performing an autopsy in 1651 (watercolour painted in 1818 by G.P. Harding from an original work in the Barber Surgeons' Hall, London).

Giovanni Morgagni is recognized as the father of modern pathology because he fundamentally transformed the study of disease by shifting the focus from theoretical books to direct anatomical observation.12

In his seminal 1761 work, On the Seats and Causes of Diseases as Investigated by Anatomy, Morgagni documented findings from approximately 640 to 700 dissections. He was the first to systematically correlate a patient’s clinical symptoms and observations with the specific anatomical changes found in their body after death. By demonstrating that diseases have specific "seats" or locations within the body, he established pathological anatomy as an exact science and set the standard for basing diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment on a comprehensive understanding of anatomical conditions.12