Bernard, Claude

1813 – He was born on the 12th day of July this year in the village of Saint-Julien near Villefranche-sur-Saône.

1845 – He married Françoise Marie (Fanny) Martin for convenience; a colleague arranged the marriage and her dowry helped finance his experiments.

1847 – He was appointed Magendie's deputy-professor at the college, and in 1855, he succeeded him as full professor. His first important work was on the functions of the pancreas gland, the juice of which he proved to be of great significance in the process of digestion; this achievement won him the prize for experimental physiology from the French Academy of Sciences.

1865 - In his major discourse on scientific method, An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, he describes what makes a scientific theory good and what makes a scientist important, a true discoverer

1869 – He practiced vivisection to the disgust of his wife and his daughter. He firmly believed that the advancement of medicine and the relief of human suffering justified the suffering of animals but his wife was not convinced, the couple were officially separated in this year and his wife went on to actively campaign against the practice of vivisection.

1878 – He died on the 10th day of February of this year.