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Andreas Vesalius and Anatomy

            Andreas Vesalius was a professor in anatomy during the scientific revolution born on December 31st, 1514. He came from a medical family. Andreas first studied medicine but later on grew an interest for anatomy. He was educated in the "anatomical works and theories of Galen", and was the first surgeon to cut open a human corpse. Andreas was very significant to the scientific revolution because of his discoveries on anatomy, which lead to the learning of new knowledge.
             Andreas Vesalius grew a great amount of interest in anatomy in his early years when he was studying medicine but let that go to carry out the teaching of anatomy. He discovered the skeletal system, muscular system, nervous system, circulatory system, abdominal organs and the heart and brain. He also discovered that men and women have the same amount of ribs unlike what the bible said which was that god took out one rib from Adam and created eve out of it. This went against religious views and caused him some trouble with the church but later on he had dissections publically, which forced the church to believe him. This wasn't the only time he got into a conflict with the church. The church believed that the heart controls the whole body but Vesalius discovered that the nerves came from the brain not the heart. One of his greatest discoveries was "the canal through which the fetus passes between the umbilical vein". Between 1537-1538 Vesalius had made many discoveries and had a lot of experience dissecting corpses and lecturing on his own dissecting and on Galen who was an anatomist whose findings were the official work everyone used. At first when Vesalius began his study in human anatomy he believed in "galenism." Previous professors never opened up the corpses to examine it because everything they needed to know was found in Galen's books until Vesalius decided to dissect corpses himself to show his students anatomy in detail.


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1. The Church and Technology

... not similar to theirs and this was very difficult to make any kinds of discoveries. He paved the way for Leonard Fuchs, who produced a guide, which is considered a landmark of botanical studies. People were able to figure out what plants had certain effects on their subjects, but yet the anatomy of the human body was still a blind area. Andreas Vesalius, of Belgium, was the ... founder of modern anatomy. He had been taught with the teachings of the ancient physician, Galen, which he redefined. Scientific study soon began to examine the ... heavens. Nicolas Copernicus, an exceptional st...

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2. The Scientific Revolution

... universe in which he lived, the world of nature that surrounded him, and even his own physical anatomy changed right before him. Scientists, like Galileo, disproved the heliocentric model as new instruments like the telescope were invented. The way in which man saw his own physical anatomy changed when Andreas Vesalius completed detailed studies of the human body. Due to these new, groundbreaking ... studies man began to view himself as insignificant and as a machine. First came the Geocentric model that showed the earth as being the center of the universe, ... in accordance with its ma...

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3. breakthroughs

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4. William Harvey

... early 17th century Claudius Galen's books were still being used in some medical schools. Although Andreas Vesalius had proved some of his ideas to be incorrect, Galen's explanation of the heart was still preferred by most doctors. It was William Harvey who proved that Galen was wrong and so made one of the most famous of medical discoveries. Who was William Harvey? Harvey ... was a doctor at St. Bartholomew's hospital in London and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also the physician to James I and Charles I. Harvey studied in Italy at the University of Padua where he ...

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5. Causal Factors of the Scientific Revolution

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6. History of the Renaissance Period

... use during science experiments to obtain accurate results. There was also a huge leap in science such as anatomy and physics. Andreas Vesalius, a famous anatomist and physician, was highly regarded for his works on medicine and his many published books. The change and advancement in science and technology were especially significant during the Renaissance. Explorations were another significant change from the middle ages. Many explorations ... were embarked on, as many sailors and explorers tried to find out more about the Earth. Sailors, mostly ... . Christopher Columbus was the first...

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7. Breast Cancer

... Greek physician Caudius Galen (130-200 AD), whose works on physiology and anatomy dominated medical thought until the Middle Ages, melancholia was the chief factor in the development of breast cancer. (Breast Cancer Society of Canada) Patients were put on special diets and sometimes exorcism was recommended. In the Rennassance Era, Andreas Vesalius, an anatomist, thought of the mastectomy, which is still used today ... more radical cases of breast cancer in objective to small "lumps" of cancerous tissue found in the breast. Noticable treatment improvements of the disease came about betwe...

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8. Society of the Italian Renaissance Period

... common language. People started to speak Italian by the early 1700's. ("Italy." Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica.) The Renaissance was known for many advances in politics and medicine. Andreas Vesalius and Leonardo Da Vinci dissected human bodies and made the first anatomical drawings. This helped people understand the human body to a more complex level. Bodies of criminals or 'sinners' were often used ... helped the growth in society in Italy and other parts of Europe tremendously whether it be politics, art, music, medicine, architecture, etc. Without many important peo...

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