The Circle of Willis is the ring of arteries at the base of the brain, in which the internal carotid arteries communicate with branches of the basilar artery. The English physician Thomas Willis described it in his Cerebri anatome of 1664, a work prepared with Richard Lower and illustrated with drawings by Christopher Wren, and Wikipedia calls it his most notable discovery. The structure carries his name, and its description formed part of a wider anatomy of the brain and nerves in which Willis also numbered the cranial nerves and coined the term neurology.
Facts
Disputed
Dispute StatusWillis is credited with the first complete description and illustration, but the source records that portions of the arterial anastomosis at the base of the brain had been described by earlier anatomists, so priority for the parts is shared. Classification
Type/ClassificationBasic Science Knowledge 1 Discovery Year Connections
Discovered By
Source Thomas Willis (Wikipedia)
Discoveries
Source Thomas Willis (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Thomas Willis (Wikipedia)
Research activity, discovery
a circle of arteries on the base of the brain
Discovered By: Thomas Willis, Research activity, discoverer
His most notable discovery was the "Circle of Willis"
View the Source2. Royal College of Physicians Inspiring Physicians (Munk's Roll): Thomas Willis
Royal College of Physicians Inspiring Physicians (Munk's Roll)Works, Cerebri anatomeQuote, Works, Cerebri anatome
Cerebri Anatome Nervorumque descriptio et usus. Lond. 8vo. 1664
3. The Circle of Willis (Royal College of Surgeons of England library blog)
Earlier descriptions before WillisQuote, Earlier descriptions before Willis
portions of the vascular anastomosis at the base of the brain had already been described by others
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