Andreas Vesalius – Anatomy

• Studied anatomy, became professor of surgery and anatomy at Padua. He was allowed to do dissections
• Did his own dissections and wrote books based on his observations using accurate diagrams to illustrate his work. His most famous book was ‘On The Fabric of the Human Body’ written in 1543.
• Vesalius showed that Galen had made mistakes with some of his ideas about human anatomy
• He was able to point out some of Galen’s mistakes. Vesalius said there were no holes in the septum of the heart and that the jaw bone is not made up of two bones
• His discoveries meant that people could understand how the body worked better than ever before
• The discovery of blood circulation by Harvey (1628) would have been impossible without Vesalius's earlier work
• Vesalius encouraged doctors to dissect and look for themselves.
• Vesalius, considered as the founder of modern anatomy, had profoundly changed not only human anatomy, but also the intellectual structure of medicine. The impact of his scientific revolution can be recognized even today. In this article we review the life, anatomical work, and achievements of Andreas Vesalius
• Trained at Paris and Padua. Carried out his own dissections and believed anatomy was key to understanding how the human body works.​