State Establishment ‘’Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy ‘’

Ministry Health of Ukraine

Department of social medicine , organization and management of health care

History of medicine

Theme of abstract

A.Vesalius and his contribution to development of

scientific anatomy

Behi manar

Medicine faculty, 416B

The teacher who checked :

Kolesnyk Valentyna Ivanovna

Dnipro
2021
This paper deals with two main topics. The first part describes the
environment in which he lived and worked and provides data on the life of
Andreas Vesalius, a scholar and anatomist of the 16th century, and . It
highlights his personality of a great doctor and teacher and points out the
importance of his scientific methods and techniques as opposed to
speculative methods that were prevalent in the scientific research in those
days. The second part of the paper is devoted to the characteristics and
description of his famous and, given the times he lived in, grand work called
De Humani Corporis Fabrica, which opened a new epoch in the history of
anatomy

Medicine on the early new time , Epoch of renaissance

The “New time” it’s an epoch in the world and especially in

European history ,when in all aspects of life- economic , political , social and
spiritual – the basis of a new industrial society was formed . It covers more than
four centuries ( from the end of 15 century to the early 20 century ) and it is
divided into two separate periods that differ from each other : the Early new
time and the late new time

In the first period the essential elements of a new society occurred that
determined its content .In the spiritual realm it means a new, humanist version
of the world . In the economic sphere it means new manufactures, industrial
production, market , and banks development .In the social area , a new strata in
society , especially private business and wage labour .In the political sphere in
some countries started the development of democratic parliamentary institutions.

In fact, the term “Early new time ” is sometimes considered as identical to the
term “ “Renaissance ” which means a transitional cultural epoch which covers
the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern times .It is
based on the ideas of humanism and focused on the legacy of antiquity .
The second period ( late of 18 centuries to- early of 20 centuries ) marked by
deep qualitative changes in the lives of all mankind . The material basis of
society in Western European countries, USA and Canada became big
mechanical production .Its ability to provide continuous self-development
provided the main capitalist market productive relations . The industrial
character of society has led to rapid development of science and education ,
culture contents, individual and mass psychology .

In the field of medicine ,The Medical Renaissance was a period of progress in

European medical knowledge, with renewed interest in the ideas of the ancient
Greek and Roman civilizations along with Arabic-Persian medicine, following
the translation into Latin of many works from these societies. Thus, Medical
discoveries during the Medical Renaissance are credited with paving the way for
modern medicine

The Medical Renaissance began just as the original Renaissance did, in the early

16th century. Medical researchers continued their Renaissance-evoked practices
into the late 17th century. Progress made during the Medical Renaissance
depended on several factors. Printed books based on movable type, adopted in
Europe from the middle of the 15th century, allowed the diffusion of medical
ideas and anatomical diagrams. Linacre, Erasmus, Leonicello and Sylvius are
among the list of the first scholars most credited for the starting of the Medical
Renaissance. Following after is Andreas Vesalius's publication of De humani
corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human body) in 1543 .

Early life and education

Andreas Vesalius is considered the Father of Modern Anatomy,

and an authentic representative of the Renaissance. He was born in Brussels,
studied medicine in Montpellier and Paris.

Displeased with the quality of anatomical demonstrations, Vesalius began

independently study human anatomy. For this purpose he tried to get corpses in
cemeteries and places of executions, sometimes risking his live. At the age of
25, he became professor of anatomy in university of Padua.

Vesalius lived in an era when the greatest authority in the field of anatomy was
Galen . Vesalius knew his work, treated him with respect . However, Vesalius
saw that Galen views on the structure of the human body is largely false because
they were based on a study of the anatomy of monkeys and other animals .
Medical career and accomplishments

Vesalius constituted a notable scientific advance. Putting together science and

art, He associated himself to artists of the Renaissance, and valued the images of
the human body in his superb work  “De Humani Corporis Fabrica.” Which
was accompanied with 250 images, brilliantly executed by the artist Kallar who
is a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and Titan . This paper aims to honor this
extraordinary European Renaissance physician and anatomist, who used
aesthetic appeal to bind text and illustration, science and art. His achievements
are highlighted, with an especial attention on neuroanatomy. In fact Vesalius
enriched science with his own data obtained as a result of numerous sections of
the human body . He corrected many mistakes of their predecessors and at first
systematized all known knowledge, creating anatomy as science

The publication of his masterpiece, the Fabrica, and the partial digest,

the Epitome, in 1543, represented a breakthrough for the knowledge of anatomy
of the human body, being still considered the jewels of medical literature and
anatomic iconography There is a plethora of anatomical data with details of rare
precision, and descriptions and illustrations of all bodily systems. Also Vesalius'
work on the vascular and circulatory systems was his greatest contribution to
modern medicine. In his dissections of the heart, Vesalius became convinced
that Galen's claims of a porous Interventricular septum were false .

His illustrations, are famous not only for their artistic excellence, but also
because many displayed the human body (skeleton, muscular system, others) in
dynamic positions of real life situations, and with panoramic landscape
backgrounds. Some illustrations may permit inferences about behavior, e.g., the
skeletons postures may suggest ways of thinking, concern with life and death.
Also Vesalius corrected 200 errors of Galen, among which special attention
should be paid to the claim that the right ventricle of the heart in adults
connected with the left. Whereas this book caused an immense commotion,
mainly among physicians and surgeons.

Following the release of the Epitome, in 1544 Vesalius resigned as professor

of surgery at Padua and burned all his notes and sketches. According to
Saunders, some historians believe he destroyed his work in a fit of
disappointment due to the negative reception of the Fabrica. After leaving
Padua, Vesalius moved to Madrid, Spain, to act as court physician of Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor and king of Spain, and later his son Philip II of Spain.
Even so, Vesalius continued to edit and refine his old work. For example, he had
originally illustrated the annular placenta of a dog as that of a human, but he
later corrected his mistake because he originally did not have the opportunity to
examine a human fetus. That and other observations compiled the second
version of the Fabrica, which was published in 1555. The Spanish ways of
medicine differed from what Vesalius had practiced, as they forbade dissection
of human cadavers. According to medical historian James Ball, Vesalius could
not even touch a dried skull.

In the spring of 1564, Vesalius left the Spanish court He became ill in a storm
while sailing back to Venice, and died on 15 October 1564, at the age of forty-
nine on the island of Zakynthos, Greece .

Andreas Vesalius is considered to be the founder of the science of

anatomy which is based on observation and experience gained by using scalpel
on dead bodies of humans. This is how he proved the then valid statements
wrong. This complex view of life and work of Andreas Vesalius is aimed at
highlighting the milestone which he represents in this traditional science of
anatomy that has been conscientiously developed since the Classical time .

In fact, Vesalius believed the skeletal system to be the framework of the human

body. It was in this opening chapter or book of  De fabrica that Vesalius made
several of his strongest claims against Galen's theories and writings which he
had put in his anatomy books. In his extensive study of the skull, Vesalius
claimed that the mandible consisted of one bone, whereas Galen had thought it
to be two separate bones. He accurately described the vestibule in the interior of
the temporal bone of the skull. He also disproved the common belief that men
had one rib fewer than women and noted that the fibula and tibia bones of the
leg were indeed larger than the humerus bone of the arm, unlike Galen's original
findings .

And Due to his impressive study of the human skull and the variations in its
features he is said to have been responsible for the launch of the study
of physical anthropology. Moreover Vesalius always encouraged his students to
check their findings, and even his own findings, so that they could better
understand the structure of the human body.
In addition to his continual efforts to study anatomy he also worked on
medicinal remedies and came to such conclusions as treating syphilis with
chinaroot. Add to that Vesalius claimed that medicine had three aspects: drugs,
diet, and 'the use of hands'—mainly suggesting surgery and the knowledge of
anatomy and physiology gained through dissection.

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» http://www3.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/vesale/debut.htm