 
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was a Belgian physician who was the first to correctly describe what was inside the human body. His dissections of human bodies, and the descriptions of what he found, were the beginnings of the modern science of anatomy.
Before Vesalius, the study of the human body relied on the writings of a Greek scientist named Galen, who in about 200 AD wrote extensively about how the human body worked. Galen made some remarkable discoveries, but didn't learn much about what went on inside a human body, since he used only animal carcasses. Much of what he wrote about human anatomy was incorrect. Unfortunately, scientists used Galen's works for the next 1300 years without doing much to check their accuracy. Vesalius didn't accept the accuracy of Galen's writings. He dissected human bodies himself, and made notes about what he discovered. He published a book called 'De Humani Corporis Fabrica' (On the Fabric of the Human Body), a 663 page encyclopedia containing more than two hundred anatomical drawings. Released in 1543 when he was just 29, the Fabrica became the most famous anatomical work ever published. As a boy, Vesalius showed great interest in the dissection of animals. He attended the University of Leuven and the University of Paris, where he studied medicine from 1533 to 1536, becoming interested in anatomy. At university Vesalius first attempted to learn about human anatomy by examining bones which he found in cemeteries and at places of executions. He also dissected entire animals. At the request of his teachers and fellow students, he publicly dissected a human corpse, and explained its parts. Further study at the University of Padua brought him his medical degree and an appointment as a lecturer on surgery. The Fabrica was published in the same year that 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium' by Copernicus appeared. As Copernicus described a new way of looking at the heavens, Vesalius revealed for the first time the actual structure of the human body. The document was a milestone in medical history; hundreds of Galen's anatomical errors were clearly demonstrated. In 1543, Vesalius also published an Epitome, which was meant to serve as an outline to the Fabrica. It was printed in a larger format, and included a series of wall charts with seven oversize anatomical figures designed for the use of medical students. The publication of the Fabrica helped lead to Vesalius' appointment as physician in the imperial household of Charles V, and later in 1559 as physician to Philip II. 
The importance of Vesalius' work can be seen by looking at images of dissections that appeared in earlier anatomy texts. In those previous scenes, the professor is seen sitting at a desk and reading from a book, while a barber-surgeon dissects a body. Vesalius, however, chose to do the dissections himself. He did the cutting, the exploring, the describing, and the writing, bringing the students close to the operating table (see image at left). He worked from the outside in, to prevent damage to the cadaver while cutting into it. He relied on no textbooks, but found out what was inside a body by looking for himself. Vesalius insisted that a knowledge of human anatomy could only be based on human dissections, and only through direct observation and discovery could a doctor learn what comprised a human body. This practice is still in place today, when every aspiring doctor must learn about human anatomy by dissecting a cadaver. Vesalius' rejection of the ideas of Galen, (whom Vesalius suspected of using the bodies of apes to describe human organs), and his own new descriptions of the human body, were not readily accepted by all of his peers. His unorthodox methods and startling conclusions made him many enemies. This insistence on dissecting human cadavers may even have cost Vesalius his life. For centuries, human dissection was a violation of Greek and Roman law, and was prohibited throughout the Middle Ages. Vesalius's dissections may have resulted in his being sentenced to death for grave-robbing under the Inquisition. This sentence may have been commuted to a pilgrimage to the Holy Land by Philip II of Spain; nevertheless, on the return voyage Vesalius's ship was wrecked, and he died on a Greek island in 1564. He was fifty years old. Vesalius' book 'The Fabric of the Human Body' consists of seven treatises: Bones, Muscles, Blood Vessels, the Nervous System, the Abdominal Viscera, the Thoracic Viscera, and the Head. Illustrations were done by art students, engraving their incredibly detailed drawings on wood, as was the practice at the time. We have reproduced for you here four pages from the book: Original and second editions of the Fabrica are valued at over $20,000. The original woodblocks used to print the second edition were used to make a modern reprint in 1934. Sadly, the woodblocks were destroyed in the bombing of Munich during World War II. |