Claude Bernard

Claude Bernard (1813 to 1878) was a French physiologist whom I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called one of the greatest of all men of science. He originated the term milieu intérieur and the associated concept of homeostasis, a word later coined by Walter Cannon. Throughout his career he sought to establish the use in medicine of what would become the scientific method, and his Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine (1865) outlined his philosophy of scientific method and remains a foundational text in experimental medicine. He began as a laboratory assistant at the Collège de France in 1841, became deputy professor there in 1847 and full professor in 1855.