Background
Andreas Vesalius was born in December 31, 1515 at Brussells, Netherlands.
When he grew up, everyone expected him to work in the field of medicine: it ran through the family, they told him.
After all, his grandfather was the personal doctor of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I and his father served
the Emperor as well then went on to work at an apothecary. His father (Andries von Wessell) went to serve
Maximilian’s successor, Charles V, later on.
Medical Studies and Discoveries
At 1532, he went to Paris to study medicine at the University. His teachers taught the students about Cladius Galen’s
ideas about the human body. The teachers also taught the students about the human anatomy by carving up animal
bodies. This method, however, failed to show what the skeletal structure looked like (obviously, animals don’t have
the same body structure as humans.) Why didn’t they butcher human corpses instead is due to the fact that the
Roman Catholic Church was in its prime and that carving up human bodies was against their law. Doing so could
result in execution by burning at stake.
Vesalius still wanted to see for himself how the body looked like. He also wanted to do the dissections himself so he
can see what things did the teachers missed. So, a local magistrate helped him by handing over the bodies of
executed criminals. He then went on to disprove Galen’s theories of the body. For example, Galen stated that the
human jaw contained two bones when Vesalius proved that there was only one.
However, there was tension between Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and Francis I, king of France. On the eve
of Vesalius’s graduation, Charles V decided to attack his bitter rival. Vesalius had to choose his side: choosing
France meant betraying his father, choosing the Holy Roman Empire meant quitting his studies.
He chose to join Charles V.
Vesalius left France and continued studying. There, he conducted the dissecting himself: this time on corpses of
criminals provided by a kind, local magistrate. He then went on to disprove Galen’s theories of the body. For
example, Galen stated that the human jaw contained two bones but Vesalius proved that there was only one.
Of course, he couldn’t keep all these information to himself; he had to share it somehow…
On the Fabric of the Human Body
In 1543, Vesalius went to Switzerland to ask the best publisher by then to help him compile his book which he titled
‘De Humani Corporis Fabrica’ or, in English, ‘On the Fabric of the Human Body.’
The book, which contained seven volumes, was designed to show Galen’s inaccuracies and portray the entire human
anatomy in its entire splendour.
His Findings and Discoveries
Vesalius’s findings on the human body changed what people thought by then. Claudius Galen, who did not perform
experiments on an actual human specimen, based his findings on that of the structure of an animal’s body.
Since Vesalius experimented on human corpses, he was able to find out what Galen’s mistakes and inaccuracies
were and correct them. Also, since Galen experimented on animals instead of human bodies, there were, of course, a
lot of mistakes. Vesalius’s discoveries were many and will be explored in depth.
System
Galen’s Observation
Vesalius’s Findings
Skeletal System
The jaw contained two
bones
The jaw contained a single
bone
The skeleton is the
framework of every body.
The sternum contained
three bones
The sternum contained
seven bones
Cardiac System
Nervous System
Digestive System
Water is able to pass
through the septum that
separates the left and right
ventricles in the heart
Everyone has (on average)
the same amount of ribs
and that the idea that
females have one more rib
bone is false
The fibula and tibia are
larger than the humerus
bone in the arm
The septum is waterproof
and the mitral valve blocks
the passage between the
two ventricles
He discovered the canal
that, through the vena
cavae and the umbilical
cord, passes through the
unborn baby
He stated that the heart is
not a true muscle since its
movements are
involuntary
He discovered two
chambers and atria
He believed the nerves are
connected to the brain and
not to the heart
Contrary to belief by then,
Vesalius stated that nerves
were not hollow
Vesalius said that the
kidneys filtered blood and
waste products
He described the
connections of the
stomach and spleen to the
omentum
Other Notes
Galen got his idea from
the fact that apes have
seven bones in their
sternum
It was Vesalius who
discovered the mitral valve
and he was also the same
person to name it
By then, people thought
ligaments and tendons
were all nerves
People by then thought
that the kidneys filtered
urine and that one of them
was higher than the other
Habits of Mind used:
Taking Responsible Risks- Cutting up corpses was considered sacrilege and was punishable by death. Vesalius
knew this but he also knew that his discoveries could (and it really did) have a major impact on the world.
Persisting- Charles V’s invasion of France during his graduation did not stop the maverick from discovering great
things. Also, the fact that only the teachers were allowed to dissect specimens did not put Vesalius off.
Striving for Accuracy- Vesalius tried to be as accurate as possible in his findings by performing the experiments
himself and on real human corpses instead of animals.
Processes Vesalius went through:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Vesalius went to university in Paris. Afterwards, he was forced to move out to join Charles V against
Francis I.
He then went on to Italy to start studying the human body. He performed experiments on human specimens
provided by a local magistrate to help him disprove Claudius Galen’s ideas and theories.
After discovering as much as he can, Vesalius went to Switzerland to ask the best publisher in that time to
help him compile his book. He even carried the notes himself when he was about to pass through a narrow
pass in the Pyrenees mountains.
When the book was published, he released it to the public and convinced them that Galen’s ideas about the
human body were wrong.
Barriers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The teachers were a barrier in that they do the experiments themselves and do not give the students a
chance to learn for themselves.
Galen’s ideas were thought to by all to be true and were rarely corrected. This had a psychological impact
in the sense of the world around Vesalius telling him that all he was doing was in vain since he wouldn’t
discover anything new; Galen had stated everything.
The Roman Catholic Church was a barrier by preventing the surgeons experiment on human bodies. Thus,
Vesalius had to find a way to perform his slicing and cutting on real human corpses.
Charles V’s invasion of France prevented Vesalius from completing his studies.