Andreas Vesalius

(1514-1564)
Vesalius was born into a medical family in Brussels in 1514.
He trained in some of the best medical schools in Europe
including the universities at Louvain and Paris. In 1537 he
became one of the youngest professors at the University of
Padua in Italy, teaching surgery and anatomy.
Vesalius was fascinated by human dissection (which was allowed) but he really
wanted to boil up a human body and get a skeleton (not allowed). To get the
bodies he had to take a few risks! He stole bodies of executed criminals from the
gallows, took the bones apart and soaked them in vinegar. He then took them
back to university and built a skeleton to study. He even took bones from graves.
Vesalius was appalled at the way his teachers had demonstrated anatomy by
reading from Galen while assistants did the dissection. He shocked the older
professors by carrying out the dissection himself. As a result of his own
observations Vesalius began to observe hundreds of mistakes in the work of
Galen. The problem was that Galen had used animals, not humans. However,
he was strongly criticised, and many people refused to believe that Galen could
be wrong.
Annoyed by his colleagues refusal to listen to his new ideas, Vesalius put on a
public demonstration. He dissected a dog and showed how this fitted with
Galens description of human anatomy. Then he dissected a human and showed
how different it was. For example, he proved that the human lower jaw was
made of one piece, not two as Galen had claimed. He also proved that Galens
teachings on the heart were wrong. Galen said blood moved from one part of
the heart to the other through holes in the septum (middle of the heart). Vesalius
showed there are no holes in the septum although he did not know how the blood
did move. Slowly people were forced around to his way of thinking. Vesalius did
not stop there and insisted that his students carry out dissections for
themselves so they could examine the body at first hand, observing from nature,
not an old book. He published drawings of his own dissections to help them
during dissection lessons.
In 1543 Vesalius published The Fabric of the Human Body. It was an
important moment in the history of medicine and changed European thinking
on anatomy completely. He had the book illustrated throughout with
anatomical drawings, printed by the latest woodcut methods. The whole book
was printed (not hand written) so there were lots of copies. Finally, to make sure
it was noticed he persuaded the Holy Roman Emperor, the most powerful man in
Europe, to act as patron to the book.
After Vesalius anatomy and medicine could never be the same. His work was
based on human dissection and, therefore, difficult to argue with. Above all,

Vesalius had demonstrated how vital it was for medical people not to just trust the
old views but to look for themselves.
1. Where did Vesalius train and work as a doctor?
2. How did Vesalius get the bodies he needed?
3. Why did Vesalius dislike the way his teachers performed anatomy? How did he
change dissection?
4. Why had Galen made so many mistakes?
5. Why was Vesalius criticised?
6. Give two detailed examples of what Galen got wrong
7. How did Vesalius change the teaching of anatomy?
8. Why was The Fabric of the Human Body so important?

1. Where did Vesalius train and work as a doctor?

2. How did Vesalius get the bodies he needed?
3. Why did Vesalius dislike the way his teachers performed anatomy? How did he
change dissection?
4. Why had Galen made so many mistakes?
5. Why was Vesalius criticised?
6. Give two detailed examples of what Galen got wrong
7. How did Vesalius change the teaching of anatomy?
8. Why was The Fabric of the Human Body so important?

1. Where did Vesalius train and work as a doctor?

2. How did Vesalius get the bodies he needed?
3. Why did Vesalius dislike the way his teachers performed anatomy? How did he
change dissection?
4. Why had Galen made so many mistakes?
5. Why was Vesalius criticised?
6. Give two detailed examples of what Galen got wrong
7. How did Vesalius change the teaching of anatomy?
8. Why was The Fabric of the Human Body so important?