Andreas Vesalius

• Andreas Vesalius was born in 1514 and died in 1564
• Andreas Vesalius

  • Made great advances in the understanding of anatomy, the structure of the human body, and how it fits together
  • Improved upon Galen's ideas and proved that Galen was sometimes wrong
  • Corrected over 300 mistakes that Galen had made
  • Insisted that his medical students should perform human dissections themselves to better understand how the body worked
  • Became professor of medicine at Padua University in Italy in 1537
  • Wrote his book "The Fabric of the Human Body" in 1543 which contained accurate drawings of the human body drawn by professional artists
  • Encouraged others to challenge old ways of thinking
• Andreas Vesalius's contributions

  1. Made great advances in the understanding of anatomy

  2. Insisted on human dissections for medical students

  3. Published accurate drawings of the human body in "The Fabric of the Human Body"

  4. Corrected over 300 mistakes made by Galen
• Andreas Vesalius became professor of medicine at Padua University in Italy


  1537
• Andreas Vesalius wrote his book "The Fabric of the Human Body"


  1543
• Andreas Vesalius's work

  Improved upon Galen's ideas and proved some of Galen's work was wrong
• Human dissection was usually illegal at the time, but a local judge gave Vesalius permission to dissect bodies of executed criminals
• Andreas Vesalius's book "The Fabric of the Human Body" contained accurate drawings of the human body drawn by professional artists
• Andreas Vesalius encouraged others to challenge old ways of thinking
• Andreas Vesalius conducted dissections on human bodies and produced accurate drawings and diagrams showing Anatomy
• His book "Fabric of the Human Body" was published


  1543
• Andreas Vesalius used scientific methods by getting permission to perform dissections on human bodies, which was previously illegal
• Andreas Vesalius compared what he saw in humans with what Galen stated and proved that Galen made some mistakes
• For example, Galen stated that the human jaw was in two bones, which isn't true
• Andreas Vesalius suggested reasons why Galen made some mistakes, such as confusing the human jaw with that of a pig
• Andreas Vesalius worked at the University of Padua and his ideas were shared and further tested by others
• Andreas Vesalius had his book printed, making accurate copies cheaper and widely available
• Single sheets called fugitive sheets were also available
• The government judges in Padua allowed the dissection of criminals
• Andreas Vesalius used his own individual genius to overturn old and widely accepted ideas
• Throughout the Middle Ages, the work of Galen had been accepted without question, but Andreas Vesalius proved that Galen had made mistakes
• Andreas Vesalius demonstrated over 300 cases of Galen's mistakes
• Andreas Vesalius inspired later individuals like William Harvey
• Andreas Vesalius' work had little impact on people's health or the understanding of disease
• Andreas Vesalius used advances in Renaissance Art and printing to produce books showing the accurate anatomy of the human body
• Andreas Vesalius conducted human dissections using the bodies of executed criminals provided by a local Magistrate
• Andreas Vesalius' most famous book was "Fabric of the Human Body"
• Andreas Vesalius demonstrated what Galen got right and the mistakes he made