Body proportions a series of continuous geometric progressions. Polykleitos uses the distal phalanx of the little finger as the basic module for determining the proportions of the human body, scaling this length up repeatedly by to obtain the ideal size of the other phalanges, the hand, forearm, and upper arm in turn. Leonardo da Vinci believed that the ideal human proportions were determined by the harmonious proportions that he believed governed the universe, such that the ideal man would fit cleanly into a circle as depicted in his famed drawing of "Vitruvian man". Body proportions While there is significant variation in anatomical
Ancient Egyptian anatomical studies the reign of the pharaoh, within which the book is known to have been written. Two individuals, Herophilus, and Erasistratus, both living within Alexandria and participating within the so-called School of Alexandria, both contributed to anatomical understanding and knowledge, as they began a practice of human dissection. Egyptian civilization was responsible for the advent of terms for external body parts, of all body parts practitioners were aware of, "metu", understood to refer to the heart, was central to ancient understandings of anatomy within relevant areas of Egypt. Knowledge of anatomical studies is drawn from papyri and ostraca, especially the Ebers,