Early theories
Embryology is the study of how baby animals develop before birth. Scientists through the ages have learnt about human development by studying the embryos of other animals. Hippocrates, the famous classical Greek doctor, looked at the embryos of chick eggs 'for the nature of the bird can be likened to that of man'. The Greeks believed that the man provided a seed, from which the embryo grew, and the woman provided the 'soil'. This view of fertilisation lasted for many centuries.
