Archives & Special Collections has a new exhibit tracing the role of fitness in medicine and health over four centuries with an exhibit of rare books, manuscripts, and photographs.
As far back as Hippocrates, physicians understood the importance of exercise and fitness in promoting physical and mental well-being. This knowledge was rediscovered in the Renaissance, when in 1569 the Italian physician Girolamo Mercuriale published De Arte Gymnastica [The Art of Gymnastics], the first modern book on the relationship between exercise and health. The exhibit displays two copies of the 1672 edition of the book showing illustrations of Roman boxers and wrestlers.
