ThE ReNaIsSaNcE Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564)


Vesalius was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1514. He studied medicine in the University of Paris before going to Padua, Italy to lecture on surgery at the very young age of 23. It was here that he showed that the work of Galen was incorrect. He and his students stole dead bodies for dissection. From his examinations he wrote a seven-volume book called On the Structure of the Human Body (1543). He included 270 pictures showing the bones, veins, muscles, heart and brain of a human.


The book is thought to be one of the greatest medical books of all time. His work meant he was appointed as a physician to the royal court of Charles V of Spain. Vesalius is often thought to be the father of modern anatomy.


Another of Galen’s beliefs was proved incorrect by William Harvey (1578–1657). For twelve years the English physician studied how the blood flows inside humans. By operating on live animals and dissecting dead humans he made his great discovery. In his book he showed how blood is pumped around the body in a circular way by the heart.


Fig 5.27 Andreas Vesalius had to resort to stealing dead bodies in order to dissect them and find out more about how the human body worked.


5


RECALL


1. Who was Galen? 2. Give two examples of mistakes made by Galen. 3. Why did people not dissect human bodies during the Middle Ages?


4. Name the book that Vesalius wrote on anatomy. 5. What did Vesalius include in this book? 6. What is William Harvey famous for discovering? 7. How did Harvey prove that Galen was incorrect?


Fig 5.28 An image from Vesalius‘s book on anatomy.


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