Physician Walter Cannon* coined the term homeostasis in his iconic 1932 book The Wisdom of the Body. Cannon marveled at the many variables our bodies manage to keep within narrow parameters, including blood glucose, body temperature, and sodium levels. Although systems theory did not exist as a field of study at the time, Cannon was espousing a view of the human body as a whole system that needed to maintain a stable internal state in response to its ever-changing environment.
