Andreas Vesalius By: January 2009

Early Life Born December 31st 1514 in Brussels, Belgium. Vesalius showed an early interest in anatomy, and came from a family that had studied medicines for generations before him.

Schooling Vesalius attended two schools to become a renowned physician. These schools on included: The University of Louvain and The University of Paris. Both of these school taught anatomy using the findings of Galen, a Greek physician from the 2nd century A.D., as a basis.

Galen Until Vesalius did he own research on the topic of human anatomy, the only basis for information was the findings of Galen. Galen based his findings about human anatomy on the dissection of animals, not of humans. Galen had been able to (for the most part and without question) use theories from his findings to state how he thought the human body functioned.

After Schooling After leaving schools Vesalius held a position as a field surgeon in the military for a short while. Shortly afterward, Vesalius went back into schooling at the University of Padua, where he received his doctor of medicine degree in 1537.

Teaching After graduating from the University of Padua, Vesalius turned around and immediately became a teacher of surgery and anatomy in the same institute. He was a revolutionary as well as controversial teacher in the fact that he would (during lectures) perform dissections on cadavers. This made his classes very popular for new students.

Galen vs. Vesalius During his dissections, Vesalius was able to show without question that there were vital errors in Galen’s studies of the human body. Vesalius concluded that this was due to the fact that in the ancient days of Galen, human dissections were not permitted. This lead Galen to do all of his studies on animals and from these studies make theories as to how the human body functioned. Even after this discovery, Vesalius credited Galen with most of discoveries of the human body.

Vesalius’ Magnum Opus In order to attract more attention to the science that he had devoted his life, Vesalius gave 5 years of his life working on the “De Humani Corporis Fabrica”. This was an amazingly in depth description of his studies on the human body. It included detailed sketches, descriptions, as well as instructions on how to perform a dissection of the human body. This book was labeled the first textbook on anatomy, and is considered one of the most important books in medical history.

Later in Life After writing De Humani Corporis Fabrica, due to controversy sparked by the text, Vesalius became a court physician for Emperor Charles V and then later his son Philip II of Spain. He died at the age of 50 during a shipwreck on the way to Palestine.

Works Cited "Andreas Vesalius." (Vesalius, Andreas, drawing. Archive Photos, Inc. Reproduced by permission. ).Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. PARKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL (MO). 26 Jan. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com/ "Galen." www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/G/Galen.html.9 Feb. 2009 <http://www.daviddarling.info/images/Galen.jpg>. Vesalius, Andreas. "De Humani Corporis Fabrica." www.allposters.com.9 Feb. 2009 <imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/BRGPOD/>. Vesalius, Andreas. "De Humani Corporis Fabrica." http://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wantz/images/vesdp02.jpg.9 Feb. 2009 <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wantz/images/vesdp02.jpg>. "Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564)." DISCovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. PARKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL (MO). 26 Jan. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com "Vesalius Publishes On the Fabric of the Human Body, 1543." DISCovering World History. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. PARKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL (MO). 26 Jan. 2009 <http://find.galegroup.com