Andreas Vesalius

By Minseo Kim

Education

Andreas came from a long line of anatomists. He was also the grandson of Johannes Wesalia, the head of the medical school at the University of Louvain. He learned from his grandfather and started the University of Louvain in 1530. There, like most wealthy men, he was taught rhetoric, philosophy, logic, Latin, classical Greek and Hebrew. However, in 1533, Andreas transferred to the Medical University of Paris. There, his two teachers were Guenther von Andernach and Jacobus Sylvius. Guenther favored Vesalius, even writing a book on Vesalius’ discovery of the spermatic vessels. Sylvius, however, disliked Vesalius and decried violently against Vesalius’ claim that Galen wrote about the inner organs through dissecting animals only. Vesalius, however, had permission to dissect executed prisoners, so his works and discoveries were more accurate.

Education (cont.)

Even though Vesalius was a genius, like many other genius’ in his time. he had a quarrelsome personality, thus getting into fight with the faculty members of the university. The next year he went to the University of Padua and passed his doctoral examination with such honor that he was appointed professor of surgery and anatomy.

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Discoveries and Works

• In 1538, he published 6 sheets of his anatomical drawings under the title Tubulae Anatomicae Sex. They became extremely popular and were reprinted without Vesalius’ approval.
• in 1539, he first described veins that you can use to draw blood from the side of the torso through an essay of bloodletting.
• When Vesalius turned 25, he began to openly assault Galen’s discoveries, and to prove this he went out and created the Fabrica(De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem or Fabrica for short). The Fabrica is his major and most famous work and was published in 1543 in Basel. Through this work, he was accepted by Charles V for the medical staff.
• Book 1- Bones. It mostly correct but showed no real evidence
• Book 2- Muscle. It was the masterpiece out of the seven.
• Book 3- Bloodvessel. It wasn’t his greatest work.

Discoveries and Works (cont.)

• Book 4- Nerves. This book was better, a great improvement on everything written on the topic before. A century later, however, it was largely outmoded.
• Book 5- Abdominal Organs. Excellent.
• Book 6- Chest and Neck.
• Book 7- Brain.
• In 1546, when Vesalius received the worthless but very popular ‘Letter on the Chinese Root’, he used derived facts from it and reapplied it to the detractors of his Fabrica and corrected some of its mistakes.
• In 1555, the second edition of the Fabrica was published with many improvements, but in retrospect, it was still a disappointment. The next year, Vesalius’ official ties with Charles V was annulled

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Impact to the Future

When Vesalius turned 25, he began to openly assault Galen’s discoveries, and to prove this he went out and created the Fabrica. The Fabrica launched a new tradition where anatomist trusted only their observations and explored the human body like a newfound organism. The Fabrica was also a huge landmark of anatomy, where many improvements were made, and without it we may not be where we are in anatomy. Vesalius’ discovery in the important differences in species also ushered future scientist to study different organisms and find their similarity/differences. This caused researches to realize humans as one species among many, with few unique traits and many other shared by different animals. Some 300 years after Vesalius’ disagreement to Galen’s works, Darwin used Vesalius anatomical knowledge to create his theory of evolution. Some of Vesalius’ discoveries are still used today and are still being built upon.

Timeline

• December 31, 1514- Birth in Brussels.
• 1530- Starts the medical school of the

University of Louvain.

• 1533- Transfers to the medical school of the

University of Paris

• 1534- Transfers again to the University of Padua.
• 1538- Publishes his 6 sheets of his anatomical

drawings under the title of Tabulae Anatomicae Sex.

• 1539- Essay on bloodletting.
• 1540- Starts writing the Fabrica.
• 1543- First version of the Fabrica.
• 1543- Accepted by Charles V into his medical staff.
• 1544- Marries Anne von Hamme, a wealthy daughter of a counselor in Brussels. The next year a daughter is born.
• 1555- Second edition of the Fabrica is published with corrections and many improvements.
• 1556- Official ties with Charles V ends.
• 1559- Called upon to help treat the French King.
• 1564- Falls ill and dies.

Comparison to Da Vinci

Vesalius-

• Anatomist.
• Went to multiple Universities and received excellent education.
• Studied humans and animals to prove Galen wrong, and encourage people to trust only their own discoveries.

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Da Vinci-

• Scientist, artist, inventor, and many more.
• Studied human and animals out of curiosity and also for his works of art.
• Received hardly any education.

Both-

• Dissected humans and animals.
• Made detailed drawing and writings about the human structure.
• Studied the anatomy of humans and other organisms.

Comparison to Machiavelli

Vesalius-

• Studied the structure of humans and animals.
• Influenced by Galen for the need to prove him wrong.
• Wrote and made drawings on the anatomical structure of the human body.

Machiavelli-

• Studied writing and music.
• Influenced by Virgil and Aristotle.
• Wrote books on politics. Ex. Books advising leaders how to better run their gov.

Both-

• Source of education changed multiple times.

Comparison to Pare

Vesalius-

• Anatomist
• Gave a better understanding of the structure of the human body.
• Received education as an anatomist and it didn’t change.

Pare-

• Surgeon.
• Came up with treatment ideas that were less painful and more effective.
• In the beginning he received education to become a priest.
• Developed new surgical instruments.

Both-

• Had a job in the medical field.
• Studied humans.
• Came up with new ideas and methods of their own.

Bibliography

• Jaki, cjacjacStanley. "McGraw-Hill Encyclopidea of World Biography." Andreas Vesalius. 13. New York: 1973.
• "Tracking SARS back to its source." Understanding Evolution. University of California Museum of Paleontology. 22 August 2008 <http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/060101_batsars>.
• Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th Edition. Sept2013, p1-1. 1p.
• Sanders, Laura. Science News. 2/22/2014, Vol. 185 Issue 4, p32-32. 1p.
• "Vesalius, Andreas." FactCite: Lincoln Library Biographies Online. Lincoln Lib. P, 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.