thic: pain was thought of as punishment for one's sins (2:5). Religious perspectives--such as that found in the book of Job--attempt to justify God's ways by either arguing that pain enables God to deal with humans or that pain has ennobling and purifying effects on the human spirit (17:33).
Despite these religious beliefs however, the Roman, Galen (A.D. 131-200), carried out extensive scientific investigations in sensory physiology (2:4). In particular, he noted the importance of the central and peripheral nervous systems (2:4). Moreover, he defined three different classes of nerves--one of which was related to pain sensation (2:4). Despite scientific progress such as that made by Galen though, the more primitive ideas regarding pain prevailed for nearly 23 centuries (2:5).
During the Middle Ages, there was a slow transition to the realization that the center of sensory perception was the brain and not the heart (5:220). Not until the 17th century did Descartes describe the transmission of sensory stimuli from the skin and other tissues to th
...