Vesalius

• In 1543, Andreas Vesalius published The Fabric of the Human Body. This was the culmination of many years of work studying the human body. Vesalius was able to gain an extensive understanding of anatomy through the dissection of dead bodies, which were often executed criminals.
• Vesalius was adamant that a physician should undertake their own dissections upon humans.
• His research was also brought to life by the illustrations of the Flemish artist Jan Kalkar, which were linked to his descriptions by numbers.
• Vesalius was also helped by technological developments such as the printing press.
• Andreas Vesalius worked at a university in Padua, Italy, a place that encouraged enquiry.
• While Vesalius showed that Galen had been right about various aspects of human anatomy, he came to realise that there were also many mistakes.
• Galen's mistakes of human anatomy included his descriptions of the liver, sternum, jaw, bile duct and uterus.
• Vesalius also discovered that the human jawbone is made from one bone and not two, and that the human breastbone has 3 parts, not 7.
• Even though Vesalius’ research on anatomy had been meticulous and laid out in precise detail, he still faced opposition as he was seen to be challenging the Church.
• His own teacher in Paris, Sylvius went on to publish research that suggested the human body had changed since the days of Galen because people now wore narrow trousers.
• Vesalius encouraged other doctors to undergo their own investigations and dissections.
• People believed that Galen could not be wrong so therefore Vesalius was.