14 Facts About Claude Bernard

Claude Bernard originated the term milieu interieur, and the associated concept of homeostasis.

Claude Bernard received his early education in the Jesuit school of that town, and then proceeded to the college at Lyon, which he soon left to become assistant in a druggist's shop.

Claude Bernard is sometimes described as an agnostic and even humorously referred to by his colleagues as a "great priest of atheism".

Claude Bernard became 'preparateur' at the College de France in 1841.

In 1845, Claude Bernard married Marie Francoise "Fanny" Martin for convenience; the marriage was arranged by a colleague and her dowry helped finance his experiments.

In 1860, Claude Bernard was elected an international member of the American Philosophical Society.

Claude Bernard was interred in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

At the age of 19 Claude Bernard wrote an autobiographical prose play in five acts called Arthur de Bretagne, which was published only after his death.

Claude Bernard dismissed several previous misconceptions, questioned common presumptions, and relied on experimentation.

Claude Bernard is widely credited with first describing carbon monoxide's affinity for hemoglobin in 1857, although James Watt had drawn similar conclusions about hydrocarbonate's affinity for blood acting as "an antidote to the oxygen" in 1794 prior to the discoveries of carbon monoxide and hemoglobin.

Claude Bernard practiced vivisection, to the disgust of his wife and daughters who had returned at home to discover that he had vivisected their dog.

Unlike many scientific writers of his time, Claude Bernard wrote about his own experiments and thoughts, and used the first person.

Claude Bernard explains what makes a theory good or bad scientifically:.

The "philosophic spirit", writes Claude Bernard, is always active in its desire for truth.