Answer
Aristotle was probably the first philosopher to observe that the body was able to detect changes in its environment and had mechanisms to oppose these changes and to maintain a relatively stable internal environment. Claude Bernard the French physiologist observed that internal body conditions remained stable even with changes in the external environment. Later Walter Canon, an American physiologist, coined the term homeostasis for this tendency to maintain internal stability. However, internal conditions are not absolutely constant, but fluctuate within limited ranges. It is more accurate to say they maintain a dynamic equilibrium around a set point For the variable body temperature, the set point is 98.6 deg.F , but the normal range is (97.7deg. F t0 99.6 deg F.)
Work Step by Step
The normal body temperature range varies with age and with the site where the temperature is taken; rectal temperatures are usually normally higher than axillary and oral temperatures. Also, between the ages of three and 65, rectal temperature readings may be as high as 104 deg F without being considered abnormally high
