Andreas'+Background

= = __**Background Information On Andreas Vesalius**__



Vesalius was born on December 31st 1514, in Brussels, Belgium and he died October 15th 1564 , at the age of 49. He had was married to Anne Van Hamme in 1545, and had one daughter named Anne in 1546. Andreas Vesalius was born into a family of physician, and was often encouraged from an early age to read about medical ideas and begin to practice them as well. Vesalius went to Louvain University from 1528 to 1533 when he then moved to Paris. He had returned to Louvain in 1536 because of war in France. However, he was anxious to continue his study of anatomy and ﻿made moves to acquire a skeleton to enhance his understanding.

The major developments that Vesalius made in medical theory came as a result of his work in Padua. He moved here after falling out with his professor in Louvain. While In Padua, Vesalius conducted in his own dissections which were unheard of at the time. He also made detailed notes and drawings. These drawings demonstrated that he understood some of the faults in Galen’s work, yet he made no open criticism of Galen’s theories.

Vesalius' work focused mainly on the anatomy of the human body. He used dissection and human skeletons to establish what the internal workings of the body looked like and made detailed drawings of these. He published these drawings along with his notes and made use of the new printing technology that was available at the time of the Renaissance. His work is noted for being a turning point in medical history. It identified weaknesses in the theories of Hippocrates and Galen. His works also provided detailed, and accuracy. Also his drawings were used explanations of the workings of the human body.

Vesalius first became known in 1543 when he had written the first major book about anatomy. It was titled ‘de Humani Corporis Fabrica’. The English translation to this is “ The Fabric of the Human Body”. Vesalius worked close with a famous artist named Titian. Titian had produced 277 illustrations for Vesalius’ book. His drawing showed the human body in great detail, and was more advanced than it ever had been before.

An important change in medical thinking was brought about from Vesalius's work. In fact, his work began to change medical ideas. He was able to prove that some of Galen's theories were wrong. Galen, who was only able to dissect animals, assumed that humans had the same anatomy. By performing Vesalius dissections on humans this revealed anatomical structures.

Soon enough Vesalius’ hard work and hours of studying began to pay off. Vesalius became well known once he helped establish surgery as a separate medical profession. Although he was criticized by the many people who refused to believe that Galen’s work could be wrong ,he still continued his establishments. The cause of Vesalius death in unknown, but he died in 1564 on the Greek island of Zakynthos.