The Description of the Human Body The Description of the Human Body The Description of the Human Body () is an unfinished treatise written in 1647 by René Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes felt knowing oneself was particularly useful. This for him included medical knowledge. He hoped to cure and prevent disease, even to slow down aging. René Descartes believed the soul caused conscious thought. The body caused automatic functions like the beating of the heart and digestion he felt. The body was necessary for voluntary movement as well as the will. However, he believed the power to move the body was wrongly imagined to come from the
Development of the human body Development of the human body Human development is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilisation, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The egg then lodges in the uterus, where an embryo and later fetus develop until birth. Further growth and development continues after birth, and includes both physical and psychological development, influenced by genetic, hormonal, environmental and other factors. This continues throughout life, through childhood, and adolescence into adulthood. Development before birth, or prenatal development () is the process in which an embryo