Andreas Vesalius contributed to biology and science. From the history of medicine

This scientist, the founder of the study of the body human body rightly called the father of anatomy.
The great-great-grandfather of Andreas Vesalius, Peter, was the physician of Emperor Maximilian and was very fond of books. He spent part of his fortune on a collection of medical manuscripts. History even left a comment in one of the books of the "Canon of Medicine" by the great scientist of the East Avicenna. Vesalius' great-grandfather was a mathematician and physician in Brussels. My grandfather was also a doctor. My father was a pharmacist, so there was someone and something to learn from.

The famous anatomist was born in Brussels in 1514. From a young age, he used a rich library, which was the property of relatives. Thanks to all this, the young Andreas developed a love for the study of medicine. Vesalius was very capable of learning.
He received a good education, finishing school in Brussels and then enrolling at the University of Louvain.

The inclination to study anatomy appeared quite early. He opened up the corpses of domestic animals with great enthusiasm, studying the structure of organs. Father's friend, court physician Nikolai Floren advised Vesalius to study in Paris.

In 1533, Andreas went to study medicine in Paris. Here, for four years, he studied anatomy under the guidance of the famous Italian doctor Guido (Vidius). Guido was one of the first who began to study large veins, peritoneum on corpses, described the appendix (appendix).

It is quite obvious that the study of anatomy is carried out on cadaveric material. And that's where the big problems were. The church was against it, and for such a charitable deed one could be persecuted. Under cover of night, Vesalius stole the corpses of hanged criminals for study.

Andres managed to assemble his first connected skeleton with great difficulty. With my friend (subsequently famous doctor) Gemma Frisia, climbed on the gallows, removed the bodies of the executed and hid them in the bushes along the roads. Not without difficulty then delivered them home. Subsequently, the soft tissues were cut off and the bones were boiled. And all this had to be done with the utmost care and in secret.

In 1538, Andreas Vesalius published the anatomical tables he created, these were six drawings that were engraved by his friend, the artist Kalkar. Studying the literature of the past, the scientist became convinced that the description of the structure of the human body is mainly determined by the experience of opening the bodies of animals. Moreover, in this way erroneous information was transmitted from century to century.

Vesalius, studying anatomy on the human body, for four years wrote his immortal work "On the friction of the human body" in seven volumes. The work was supplemented by a large number of illustrations. cited detailed description human body, and numerous errors of predecessors were noted. For example, for centuries it was believed that a man has one less rib (of course, from that rib the Lord created Eve).

The work of Vesalius was the foundation on which modern anatomy arose. Vesalius had great respect for Galen. He admired the vastness of his mind, and ventured to point out small "inaccuracies" in his teaching. But there were more than two hundred such additions. In fact, this meant a refutation of the main teachings of Galen (that which was the bible of healers for almost 1500 years!). Andreas described the structure of the heart and proved that there is no septum between the left and right ventricles of the heart, as mentioned earlier. It is worth recalling that at that time it was not known about the circles of blood circulation. So where does the blood that the heart pumps go? Even without knowing about the presence of small vessels - capillaries, one can purely empirically calculate: the heart pumps about 6 liters of blood per minute. There is simply not enough blood in the body. It is taken from nowhere and disappears into nowhere... Vesalius could not find an answer to this question. This was done later by William Harvey.

After the work of Vesalius was published, a real storm began in science. Just imagine (now it’s basically the same), you are a professor or even an academician, you realize some kind of hypothesis all your life, scientific idea. You are relying on some kind of foundation built by scientists before you. And then a young man appears who says: everything that you have been doing all your life is, to put it mildly, nonsense. Teacher Vesalius, for whom the authority of Galen was adamant, called the scientist "proud, slanderer, monster." Moreover, he issued a document ridiculing Vesalius. Under this document, all the enemies of Andreas united.
The scientist was accused of disrespectful attitude to the teachings of Hippocrates and Galen. These teachings were canonized by the church (true knowledge is not subject to verification!).
Persecution led the desperate Vesalius to stop research work, burned some of his manuscripts and materials ... He went to war as a chief military surgeon, to the service of Charles V. After the war, he was the attending physician of Charles V, and then switched to the service of his son, Philip II.

The Spanish Inquisition began to persecute Andreas, accusing the scientist of murder, allegedly, while dissecting a corpse, he stabbed a living person. He was sentenced to death. In 1563, a noble lady bequeathed her body for an autopsy. The brother of the deceased was present at the autopsy. After the anatomist cut the ribs to extract the heart, it began to beat (as the brother of the deceased claimed). Whether it seemed to a relative who did not understand anything in medicine, or whether it was a deliberate slander, no one knows. Philip II intervened in the fate of Vesalius and the execution was replaced by a pilgrimage to Palestine. Returning from this dangerous journey, the ship on which he sailed was wrecked. The father of anatomy was thrown out on the small island of Zakynthos, where he fell seriously ill and died. On October 15, 1956, at the age of 50, the soul of the founder of anatomy rested on a small island.

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Andreas Vesalius was born on December 31 1514 years in the city of Brussels (Seventeen Provinces). Vesalius' activities took place in many European countries. One of the first began to study the human body through autopsy. In the main work "On the structure of the human body" ( 1543 ) Vesalius gave scientific description the structure of all organs and systems, pointed out many mistakes of his predecessors, including Galen. Persecuted by the church.

Andreas Vesalius is rightly considered the creator of modern anatomy and the founder of the school of anatomists. He was also successful as a medical practitioner.

The doctors of Andreas Vesalius were his grandfather and great-grandfather, and his father served as a pharmacist at the court of Emperor Charles V. The interests of those around him undoubtedly influenced the interests and aspirations of the young Vesalius. Andreas studied first at school, and then at the University of Louvain, where he received a versatile education, studied Greek and Latin, thanks to which he could get acquainted with the works of scientists already in early years. Obviously, he read a lot of books about medicine by ancient and contemporary scientists, since his works speak of deep knowledge. Vesalius independently assembled a complete human skeleton from the bones of the executed. It was the first anatomical manual in Europe.

Every year, Vesalius' passionate interest in the study of medicine, in anatomical studies, became more and more evident. In his free time from teaching, he carefully dissected the bodies of animal mice, cats, dogs at home, studying the structure of their body.

In an effort to improve his knowledge in the field of medicine, especially anatomy, Andreas Vesalius, at the age of seventeen, went to the University of Montpellier, and to 1533 first appeared at the medical faculty of the University of Paris to listen to lectures by the famous entomist Sylvius. Young Vesalius was already able to critically approach the method of teaching anatomy.

In the preface to the treatise On the Structure of the Human Body, Andreas Vesalius wrote: “My studies would never have led to success if, during my medical work in Paris, I had not applied my own hands to this matter ... And I myself, somewhat sophisticated own experience, publicly performed a third of the autopsies on his own.

A. Vesalius asks questions at lectures that testify to his doubts about the correctness of the teachings of Galen. Galen is an indisputable authority, his teaching should be accepted without any reservations, and Vesalius trusts more his eyes than the works of Galen.

The scientist rightly considered anatomy to be the basis of medical knowledge, and the goal of his life was the desire to revive the experience of the distant past, to develop and improve the method of studying human anatomy. However, the church, which hindered the development of the natural sciences, forbade the autopsy of human corpses, considering it blasphemy. Many difficulties had to be overcome by the young anatomist Andreas Vesalius.

In order to be able to do anatomy, he used every opportunity. If there was money in his pocket, he negotiated with the cemetery watchman, and then a corpse suitable for autopsy fell into his hands. If there was no money, Vesalius, hiding from the watchman, opened the grave himself, without his knowledge. What to do, I had to take risks!

Vesalius studied the bones of the human and animal skeleton so well that he could name any bone by touch without looking at them.

Andreas Vesalius spent three years at the university, and then circumstances developed in such a way that he had to leave Paris and go back to Louvain.

There Vesalius got into trouble. He removed the corpse of the executed criminal from the gallows and performed an autopsy. The Louvain clergy demanded the strictest punishment for such blasphemy. Vesalius realized that disputes were useless here, and considered it good to leave Louvain and went to Italy.

After receiving in 1537 year of his doctorate, Andreas Vesalius began teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. The government of the Republic of Venice encouraged the development of natural science and sought to expand the work of scientists at this university.

The brilliant talent of the young scientist attracted attention. Twenty-two-year-old Vesalius, who had already received the title of Doctor of Medicine for his work, was appointed to the Department of Surgery with the duty of teaching anatomy.

Andreas gave lectures with inspiration, which always attracted many listeners, worked with students and, most importantly, continued his research. And the deeper he studied internal structure organism, the more strengthened in the idea that in the teachings of Galen there are many very significant errors that those who were under the influence of Galen's authority simply did not notice.

Four long years he worked on his work. Vesalius studied, translated and republished the works of medical scientists of the past, his anatomist predecessors. And in their writings, he found many errors. "Even the greatest scientists," wrote Vesalius, "slavishly adhered to other people's oversights and some strange style in their unsuitable manuals." The scientist began to trust the most authentic book - the book of the human body, in which there are no errors. At night, by candlelight, Andreas Vesalius dissected corpses. He set himself the goal of solving the great task of correctly describing the location, shape and function of the organs of the human body.

The result of the passionate and hard work of the scientist was the famous treatise in seven books, which appeared in 1543 year and entitled "On the structure of the human body." It was a gigantic scientific work, in which, instead of obsolete dogmas, new scientific views were presented. It reflected the cultural upsurge of mankind during the Renaissance.

Printing developed rapidly in Venice and in Basel, where Andreas Vesalius printed his work. His book is decorated with beautiful drawings by the artist Stefan Kalkar, a student of Titian. It is characteristic that the skeletons depicted in the drawings stand in poses characteristic of living people, and the landscapes surrounding some of the skeletons speak more about life than about death.

All this work of Vesalius was intended for the benefit of a living person, the study of his body in order to preserve his health and life. Each capital letter in the treatise is decorated with a drawing depicting children studying anatomy. So it was in ancient times the art of anatomy was taught from childhood, knowledge was passed from father to son. Gorgeous artistic composition The frontispiece of the book depicts Andreas Vesalius during a public lecture and an autopsy of a man.

The work of Vesalius excited the minds of scientists. The boldness of his scientific thought was so unusual that, along with the followers who appreciated his discoveries, he had many enemies. The great scientist experienced a lot of grief and disappointment when even his students left him. The famous Silvius, the teacher of Vesalius, called Vesalius "Vesanus", which means insane. He attacked him with a scathing pamphlet which he called "A defense against the slander of the anatomical works of Hippocrates and Galen by a certain madman."

He did not disdain to turn to the emperor himself with a demand to roughly punish Vesalius: “I implore Caesar’s Majesty,” wrote Professor Jacob Silvius, “so that he severely beat and generally curbed this monster of ignorance, ingratitude, arrogance, the most pernicious example of wickedness, born and brought up in his house, as this monster deserves, so that with its plague breath it does not poison Europe.

Andreas Vesalius foresaw how events would turn out after the publication of his treatise On the Structure of the Human Body. Even earlier, he wrote: “... my work will be attacked by those who did not take up anatomy as zealously as was the case in Italian schools, and who now, at an advanced age, are languishing with envy at the correct revelations of the young man.”

Most eminent doctors really took the side of Sylvius. They joined his demand to curb and punish Andreas Vesalius, who dared to criticize the great Galen. Such was the strength of recognized authorities, such were the foundations public life of that time, when any innovation caused wariness, any bold statement that went beyond the established canons was regarded as freethinking. These were the fruits of the centuries-old ideological monopoly of the church, which imposed rigidity and routine.

Having opened dozens of corpses, having carefully studied the human skeleton, Vesalius came to the conclusion that the opinion that men have one rib less than women is completely wrong. But such a belief went beyond medical science. It affected church doctrine.

Vesalius did not reckon with another statement of the churchmen. In his time, the belief was preserved that in the human skeleton there is a bone that does not burn in fire, is indestructible. It supposedly contains a mysterious power, with the help of which a person will be resurrected on the day of the Last Judgment in order to appear before the Lord God. And although no one saw this bone, it was described in scientific papers its existence was not in doubt. Vesalius, who described the structure of the human body, bluntly stated that, while examining the human skeleton, he did not find a mysterious bone.

Andreas Vesalius was aware of the consequences of his speeches against Galen. He understood that he opposed the prevailing opinion, offending the interests of the church. And how they deal with such impudent loners, he knew well. The scientist continued to teach at the University of Padua, but every day the atmosphere around him heated up more and more. It was bitter for him to part with Padua, with the university, to interrupt his work and research. But he saw no other way.

Just at this time, he received an invitation from the Spanish Emperor Charles V to take the place of the court physician. The court of the emperor was at that time in Brussels. Vesalius's father was still serving Charles, and the young professor accepted the emperor's offer. Of course, in Brussels he will not have a department, he will not be able to study with students. But on the other hand, the imperial court will serve as a reliable shelter for him from the persecution of the church, leaving the opportunity to study anatomy. Thus, the position of court physician, although not to the liking of Vesalius, had its advantages.

And yet it was difficult to find a more unsuitable position for Vesalius. He was a scientist, a researcher. Now he had to learn principles that were very far from science, the ability to please his noble patients, to catch their thoughts, to participate in all court ceremonies.

But even under these conditions, he did not stop the work to which he devoted his life. All free time Andreas Vesalius gave the treatise "On the structure of the human body." He made corrections, additions, clarified what seemed to him not entirely convincing. Using every opportunity, he was engaged in anatomy. But the thought that he is divorced from scientific centers, What research activities became a side affair for him, oppressed Vesalius.

He dreamed of returning to the scientific department again. But in reality, Vesalius could not even think about leaving Brussels and moving to another place where he could do the work he liked. As soon as he left the imperial court, the Inquisition would again show interest in him. That is why, in the most dreary moments of his life, Vesalius convinced himself that he had to come to terms with the circumstances.

A. Vesalius managed to publish his treatise “On the structure of the human body” with the second edition. It was only a short happy moment in all these years, and then everything went on as before. The monotonous days dragged on in a long succession.

But then came the end of Vesalius' stay at the imperial court. His patron Charles V abdicated, retired to a monastery and soon died. Philip II, bilious and evil person. He did not like Vesalius and openly expressed his dislike to him. Numerous envious and enemies of the court physician hastened to take advantage of this. The attitude of the new emperor towards Vesalius worsened even more. Vesalius felt that he needed to leave Brussels as quickly as possible. He made an attempt to escape from the power of the new emperor, asked to be released to Italy. But the wayward Philip categorically opposed this.

Under Philip, the severe prohibitions of the church on dissecting corpses again touched Vesalius. To break them meant to enter into open conflict with the church. Vesalius bitterly wrote about this time - "I could not even touch a dry skull with my hand, and the less I had the opportunity to perform autopsies."

But no matter how hard Andreas Vesalius tried not to give the church a reason for any accusations, it turned out to be beyond his power. Streams of slander again poured on Vesalius. To top it off, he was falsely accused of dissecting a living person.

Vesalius tried to prove his innocence, but all was in vain. He had to obey. The verdict of the church was categorical: the court physician Andreas Vesalius had to go to the "holy places" to the Holy Sepulcher to atone for his sins...

IN 1564 Vesalius left Madrid with his wife and daughter. Leaving his family in Brussels, he went on a long journey alone. On the way to Jerusalem, the scientist stopped in his beloved Venice, where he spent best years your creative life.

Vesalius did not leave the thought of returning to her favorite science. There is an assumption that the Senate of Venice invited him to take the chair again at the University of Padua. But the dream of the scientist to return to science did not come true.

The writing of Andreas Vesalius provoked, as might be expected, fierce attacks from obscurantist doctors, against whom Vesalius defended himself with several polemical writings. WITH 1544 BC, as a life physician to Emperor Charles V, Andreas accompanied him on all his travels, but under his son, Philip II, the Spanish Inquisition managed to seize the long-awaited enemy. Accused that during the autopsy the heart of the deceased showed some signs of life, Andreas Vesalius was condemned to death. Only thanks to the intercession of Philip II, the death penalty was replaced by a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulcher.

On the way back, the storm threw the unfortunate scientist to the island of Zante (Republic of Venice), where Andreas Vesalius died on October 15 1564 of the year.

Andreas Vesalius (Andreas Vesalius, 1514 - 1564) - the famous physician of the Middle Ages, one of the founders of anatomy entered the history of critical care medicine as the author of one of the first written descriptions of the tracheostomy operation performed by him in an experiment on an animal with the aim of artificial ventilation of the lungs (1543 .).

The history of tracheostomy and tracheal intubation is very interesting, and quite unique, because over the course of four millennia (approximately from 2000 BC to the 20th century), these methods were rediscovered, then again disappeared into oblivion. Initially, they were only methods of resuscitation, and only then they began to be used as planned manipulations during artificial lung ventilation (ALV).

Apparently, modern historians of medicine in relation to tracheostomy and tracheal intubation will never be able to complete their favorite business - scrupulously put everything on the shelves and distribute the priorities among researchers according to merit in scientific discovery these methods. However, in the matter of turning tracheostomy from a resuscitation only procedure into a planned manipulation, Andreas Vesalius is undoubtedly, if not a pioneer, then one of the main contenders for these laurels.

The first tracheostomies are lost in the depths of millennia. One of the earliest descriptions of a surgical tracheostomy can be found in the Rig Veda, an ancient Indian book, the appearance of which dates back to about 2000 BC. However, the operation mentioned in the book, reminiscent of the technique of tracheostomy, according to the Vedas, was performed back in the Bronze Age! Five centuries later in Egypt, in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, a method of resuscitation similar to tracheostomy was also mentioned. The author of this papyrus was Imhotep, a renowned ancient Egyptian scholar, architect, physician, deified over time, who lived during the reign of the pharaoh III dynasty Djoser (c. 2780–2760 BC). Presumably, it was Imhotep who founded the school of medicine in Memphis. And all this two millennia before the birth of Hippocrates, the founder of Western medicine! Later, Imhotep served as a prototype for Greek god medicine of Asclepius.

The next mention of the use of tracheostomy for asphyxia is associated with the name of Asclepiades (128-56 BC). Asklepiades - ancient Roman physician, Greek by origin, founder methodical school and a medical system based on the atomism of Epicurus. He recommended a simple, natural treatment ("treat reliably, quickly and pleasantly"). In most works on the history of medicine, it is stated that it was Asklepiades who introduced tracheostomy into medicine. However, numerous other facts are known to history. For example, the well-known case is when Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) used a sword to cut the trachea of ​​a soldier choking on a bone, saving him from asphyxia. Talmud, a multi-volume set of legal and religious and ethical provisions of Judaism, including discussions that were conducted for about eight centuries (from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD) by the teachers of Eretz-Israel and Babylonia, contains descriptions of cases of the introduction of a cane through the trachea for the implementation of artificial respiration in a newborn child. Similar operations were also documented by Hippocrates (c. 460 - c. 377 BC) and Claudius Galen (129 - c. 200). Based on these facts, one can even dare to suggest that about 100 years before our era, tracheostomy was a common, routine operation.

In the following centuries, there is practically no historical indication of research in the field of the respiratory tract. However, rare references in the thirteenth century referred to tracheostomy as "a semi-murder and a scandal of surgery". Such an attitude towards this operation very eloquently explains the rejection of its use in the Middle Ages.

It was not until the Renaissance that tracheostomy reappeared as an important medical procedure. If we turn to the written sources of this era, then in fact a tracheostomy for mechanical ventilation was first described in 1543 by 28-year-old Andreas Vesalius in his monumental 7-volume work On the Structure of the Human Body, the Russian translation of which takes about 2000 pages.

One of the iconic figures of the Renaissance in the natural sciences was the Flemish anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564). Scientific anatomy began with him.

Male muscles, front view, c.54.k.12, pg.181 http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/bodies/large1695.html

Muscles of a man, seen from the back, c.54.k.12, pg.197 http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/bodies/large1697.html

Jaw Anatomy, c.54.k.12, pg.36 http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/bodies/large1693.html

Brain, c.54.k.12, pg.606 http://www.bl.uk/learning/images/bodies/large1699.html

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By denying the authority of Galen, as well as by his struggle with the church, which forbade anatomy, Vesalius gained many enemies. His opponents, who adhered to the traditions of medieval scholastic medicine, achieved the expulsion of the scientist from Padua.

Driven to despair, Vesalius burned some of his manuscripts and materials. In 1544 he accepted an offer to become the court physician of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1555, the second edition of On the Structure of the Human Body was published.

P after renunciation Charles V from the throne, Vesalius entered the service of his son Philip II, the king of Spain. Philip, unlike Charles, did not like Vesalius. Under Philip, the scientist was falsely accused of dissecting a living person who was in lethargy. The Spanish Inquisition sentenced Vesalius to death. However, thanks to the intercession of Philip II, the death penalty was replaced by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Vesalius died on his way back from Jerusalem, at the age of 50, being sick from a shipwreck on the island of Zante.

Frontispiece of the 1642 edition:
Vesalius, Andreas. Librorum Andreae Vesalii Bruxellensis De humani corporis fabrica epitome/ cum annotationibus Nicolai Fontani Amstelredamensis. - Amstelodami : apud Ioannem Ianssonium, 1642.
Book height 37 cm.

Andrew Vesalius - founder scientific anatomy. His remarkable book De humini corporus fabrica, written in 1543, was the first fully illustrated anatomy of the human body. It was based on the observations of the scientist, made by him during autopsies, and refuted many thousands of years of misconceptions in this field of knowledge. Andrew Vesalius - Renaissance scientist. He was professor of anatomy at the University of Padua and physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Andrei Vesalius: a short biography

Vesalius was born on December 31, 1514 in Brussels. At that time the city was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Today it is the capital of Belgium. Andrei was one of four children - he had two brothers and a sister. His father, Anders van Wezele, served as court apothecary to Margaret of Austria. Mother, Isabelle Crabbe, raised children in a rich house located in a respectable area near the Cowdenberg Palace, where the boy's father worked.

Vesalius went to school at the age of six. It probably was educational institution Catholic Brotherhood in Brussels. For 9 years, he mastered arithmetic, Latin and other languages, and also thoroughly studied the principles of the Catholic religion. His father was often absent on duty. And the boy, encouraged by his mother to follow in his father's footsteps, took full advantage of the family's well-stocked library.

College

At the age of 15, Andrei Vesalius entered the University of Louvain. It was located 30 km east of Brussels. It was a moment of family pride: his father was forbidden to receive higher education because he was born out of wedlock. As was customary then, Vesalius studied art and Latin. He also mastered Hebrew and Greek. After receiving his Master of Arts degree in 1532, he was admitted to the prestigious medical school of the University of Paris.

Paris Medical School

Andrew Vesalius began his medical education in 1533, at the age of 19. The talented student was greatly influenced by the works of the ancient Greek physician Claudius Galen, written 1300 years before he met them. These teachings were considered absolute and flawless truth. Most of Galen's anatomical observations were made during the autopsy of animals, mainly primates, since in that era it was forbidden to dissect people.

Andrei Vesalius, as an anatomist, owes much to his anatomy teacher Johann Guinter von Andernach, who translated the ancient Greek texts of Galen into Latin. Like the ancient Greek physician, he believed personal experience and observations the best way obtaining anatomical knowledge. Most human autopsies at that time were carried out solely for the purpose of assuring students that everything written by Galen and Hippocrates was true.

During a typical demonstration, a butcher or surgeon would make the necessary incisions, while the teacher, seated high above the body, would read the relevant passages from ancient writings aloud. The assistant assisted the students by pointing to the organs under discussion. Since the ancient texts could not contain any errors, the students were not allowed to ask questions or discuss the dissection. Academic disputes, as a rule, concerned the correctness of the translation of ancient works, and not anatomy.

Guinter von Andernach was a rare type of teacher in those days. He allowed his students to dissect themselves. Although this practice was condemned by most universities. As a rule, an autopsy was performed on executed criminals, and it was considered humiliating for educated people to deal with these despicable specimens.

Vesalius' talents impressed Guinter so much that he asked him to help with a book on Galenic anatomy, Institutiones anatomicae. The work was published in 1536. In it, Guinter praised his 21-year-old student: "This promising young man has an outstanding knowledge of medicine, is fluent in Latin and Greek, and is very experienced in anatomy."

Louvain Medical School

Andrew Vesalius was forced to leave Paris in 1536 as war broke out between France and the Holy Roman Empire. To complete his medical studies, he returned to the University of Louvain. His expertise in anatomy was quickly recognized. Soon, Vesalius was assigned to observe and comment on the autopsy of an 18-year-old noblewoman who died suddenly. Anatomy of young women at that time was rare. Vesalius was outraged by the inexperience of the surgeon and took over the autopsy.

Despite a keen awareness of his growing experience, he was still dissatisfied with his knowledge of human anatomy. Vesalius realized that the texts could teach him nothing more. Now Andrei had to break down the barriers to knowledge erected by the old professors of medicine who were happy to worship Galen and Hippocrates. For research, he needed human bodies.

Shortly after returning to Louvain, Andrew Vesalius and his friend found the almost complete corpse of the executed criminal, left under open sky. The opportunity presented itself was too good to pass up. That night, Vesalius stole the body, kidnapped it, and dissected it into a skeleton, which he then used as a visual aid. In order not to arouse suspicion, he made up a story that he brought it from Paris. Conducting demonstrative dissections for students, Vesalius in Louvain actually became an informal teacher of anatomy. In 1537, at age 22, he received a bachelor's degree in medicine.

Andrei Vesalius: biography of a scientist

The young doctor wanted to become a doctor. To do this, he needed to obtain the appropriate qualifications. To this end, he entered the University of Padua in northern Italy. The professors quickly realized that Vesalius was an exceptional student. Almost immediately, they allowed him to take his final exams. The gifted young man received his doctorate just in time for his twenty-third birthday. The teachers immediately elected him professor of anatomy and surgery.

Andrew Vesalius will write his main works in Padua. He keenly felt the need for illustrations and visual aids which could help students understand anatomy. Vesalius used them during autopsies. In the first year of his professorship, in 1538, he published Tabulae anatomicae sex - "Six Anatomical Tables". The illustrative illustrations were accompanied by notes made during his first public autopsy in Padua by Andrei Vesalius. The contribution to the anatomy of the scientist is undeniable. He made up schematic drawings liver, venous and arterial system, as well as the skeleton. The book instantly became very popular. She shamelessly copied.

In 1539, the anatomical studies of Vesalius received the support of the judge of Padua. He became interested in the work of the scientist and began to supply him with the bodies of executed criminals for autopsy. By this time, it had become apparent to Vesalius that Galen's anatomy was incorrect. However, the refutation of prevailing ideas is a difficult and sometimes dangerous business. Even in more recent times, all too often new ideas had to fight for their right to exist, even if they were supported by solid evidence. Vesalius, on the other hand, had to refute the orthodox views that had prevailed for 1300 years.

In the work "Six Anatomical Tables", instead of describing his modern observations in the course of research, the scientist made concessions to tradition. Andrew Vesalius presented the liver in a medieval form - in the form of a five-lobed flower. He depicted the heart and aorta as Galen described them - these were the organs of monkeys, not people. However, in the skeleton, he managed to make revolutionary, albeit subtle, changes. Vesalius showed a human jaw consisting of one, not two bones, as Galen incorrectly claimed.

Bloodletting Letter

In addition to this mini-mutiny, Vesalius also took part in the controversy about venosection, or bloodletting. This technique has been regularly used to treat or alleviate the symptoms of patients. Doctors argued about where to cut the vein - near the site of injury or at a distance from it. The discussion heated up because doctors relied on the Arabic translation of Galen's writings - his original works in Greek have not been available in Europe since Roman times. However, the fall of Constantinople changed this situation. And the work of Galen could again be studied in the original. Doctors have found that the Greek text sometimes diverges from Arabic translation which they have been using for so long.

In 1539, at the age of 24, Vesalius wrote a letter about bloodletting. Without siding with any revolutionary change, he again broke with conventional wisdom by recounting his own observations rather than quoting classical texts. Vesalius was now determined to seek the truth on his own, rather than relying on the work of others.

The emergence of a new anatomy

In 1540, at the age of 25, Andrew Vesalius began work on an illustrated anatomy textbook De humini corporus fabrica ("On the structure of the human body"). This book became his most significant work. Vesalius took Padua in 1543. He traveled to Basel, Switzerland to complete the preparation of the book for publication.

On the Structure of the Human Body was an impressive work of 700 pages in seven volumes. Her visual impact - over 270 breathtaking illustrations - has been enormous. The second volume, for example, features stunningly detailed human images, layer by layer of illustrations showing the muscular structure of the body. These drawings are probably the most famous medical images in history.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the book written by Andrei Vesalius. The contribution to medicine was enormous. In addition, the work has become milestone in the history of art. Unfortunately, the name of the artist who worked with the scientist remained unknown. The images were accompanied by a description of how the muscles worked.

It is not surprising that, given the richness of the illustrations and the large volume, the book was a costly acquisition. It was intended for doctors, libraries and aristocrats. Realizing that others might be interested in his work, the author simultaneously released a practical, more accessible book with fewer drawings called Epitome. Andrew Vesalius in "Epitome" used much more for illustrations male bodies than female, probably because there were significantly more male criminals executed than female.

Fabrica became the ancestor modern science about human anatomy. She decisively broke with Galen and Hippocrates. Andrei Vesalius based his discoveries only on what he actually saw during autopsies, and not on what he expected to see. Here are just a few of his statements:

• There is no bone at the base of the heart. Her description of Galen actually referred to the cartilage at the base of the heart of deer and other animals, which hardened as the beast aged.
• The sternum is made up of three, not seven parts, as Galen claimed based on the autopsies performed on monkeys.
• The septum of the heart is not porous. It has no holes.
• The vena cava originates in the heart, not in the liver, as Galen claimed.
• There is no such organ as the rete mirabile, the "wonderful plexus" of internal arteries that supposedly led from the heart to the brain.
• Men and women have an equal number of ribs. The representatives of the stronger sex do not have a missing rib, as was commonly believed.
• Men and women have the same number of teeth. Galen argued that the former had more of them.

Most readers received the book positively. It has become a desktop for serious anatomists and doctors. However, some physicians and scientists felt threatened, as they built their careers on Galen's work, and lashed out at Vesalius.

For example, Jacob Silvius, who taught Andrei in Paris, described his former student as a brazen and illiterate slanderer who treacherously attacked his teacher with aggressive lies, again and again distorting the truth of nature. In saying this, he may have taken revenge on his student, who had previously said that Sylvius's methods of teaching, which consisted of studying the corpses of cats and dogs, and not people, were not capable of leading to progress in the science of human anatomy.

Andrew Vesalius dedicated "On the Structure of the Human Body" to Emperor Charles V. He also presented him with a special copy printed on parchment. Vesalius dedicated the Epitome to Charles's son, Prince Philip.

court physician

When the emperor noticed a book authored by Andrei Vesalius, the biography of the scientist took another turn - he was appointed doctor of the imperial family. He resigned his duties as a professor at Padua, becoming the fifth representative of the Vesalius dynasty, who was in the service of the court. As a life doctor, he had to serve in the army. When the war began, Vesalius was sent to the battlefield as a surgeon. Accustomed to working with corpses, he struggled to operate on living patients. Experienced surgeon Daza Chacon helped him learn how to quickly perform amputations.

In the winter of 1543, Vesalius came to Italy to perform in and then in the spring of 1544 returned to military service. He became an excellent surgeon. One of Vesalius' court duties was to embalm the corpses of wealthy nobles who died in battle. This allowed him to make further anatomical studies, take notes, and make observations.

Peace was declared in mid-1544. And Andrew Vesalius, the surgeon, returned to take care of the emperor and his court in a more comfortable environment. His reputation continued to grow as he received letters from doctors throughout Europe asking for advice in the most difficult cases.

In 1556, Emperor Charles V transferred power to his son Philip. In gratitude to Vesalius, who was 41 years old, for his faithful service, Charles granted him a lifetime pension and the aristocratic title of Count Palatine. The court physician continued to work, now in the service of Philip.

Pilgrimage

Andrew Vesalius accompanied Philip to Madrid, but he did not enjoy life there. Spanish physicians treated diseases by relying on the movements of the planets. The dissection of human bodies was prohibited. It all seemed rather backward. In addition, Philip gave preference to traditional medical methods of treatment, rather than modern scientific ones. It became clear to Vesalius that he would never become the chief physician of the ruler.

In 1561 the professor of anatomy, Gabriele Fallopius, who held Andrew's former position at the University of Padua, sent him a copy of a book he had written called Observationes Anatomicae. In it he commented on "On the Structure of the Human Body", pointing out in a friendly manner some of the discrepancies between Vesalius's work and his own later observations. He also made it clear that he was seriously ill.

Fallopius died in 1564. The department of anatomy in Padua became vacant. That same year, Vesalius left Spain on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Various surviving sources state that he was sent by Philip to make a pilgrimage as a token of penance. The emperor allegedly made such a decision after a noble family informed the revolutionary anatomist about the autopsy of a nobleman, whose heart was still beating.

All these reports rely on a single source - a letter allegedly written in 1565 by the diplomat Hubert Languet. It was most likely fabricated 50 years after the death of the anatomist. Andrew Vesalius, whose biography is not tainted by such facts (there are no primary documents confirming the charges against him), probably went on a pilgrimage trick in order to leave Philip's court in Spain unhindered and then return to Padua.

Personal life and death

In 1544, Vesalius married the daughter of a wealthy adviser in Brussels, Anna van Hamme. They had one child, a girl who was born in 1545. Her parents named her Anna. The family lived together most of the time. But when Vesalius went on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, his wife and daughter returned to Brussels.

The scientist reached Jerusalem, where he received a letter with an invitation to accept the Department of Anatomy and Surgery at the University of Padua. Unfortunately, Andrew Vesalius, short biography which was tragically cut short, never returned to Padua. His journey from Jerusalem was marred by violent storms. By the time the ship reached port on the Greek island of Zakynthos, Vesalius was desperately ill. He died a few days later. Andrei Vesalius, the founder of scientific anatomy, has died at the age of 49. This happened on October 15, 1564. He was buried in Zakynthos.