Human Dissection
Before the Renaissance, scientists and doctors were only exposed to inaccurate anatomical knowledge from centuries ago due to the lack of human dissections. Galen was one of these anatomists from awhile ago, more specifically Rome in the first century. His beliefs were worshipped for 14 centuries, up until the Renaissance. Before the Renaissance, the church didn’t allow human dissections, which affected doctor’s abilities to learn about the human body. Animal bodies were their only source of anatomical knowledge, and doctors, including Galen, assumed human anatomy was similar. Because they could not dissect a human, it made accurately describing the human body that much more difficult. The Renaissance did mark the beginning of human dissections
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Vesalius, also known as the father of modern anatomy, was the first to dissect a human body and accurately take notes on it. He dissected executed criminals, and strongly advocated for hands-on learning. He even held public dissections to educate his students, and unlike other scientists with the opportunity to dissect bodies, was not afraid to correct Galen’s anatomical errors. His book, On the Fabric of the Human Body, was an extraordinary resource for doctors at the time, as it corrected Galen on many body parts and functions. It made huge strides for medicine by including many important discoveries he made from dissection, such as that nerves, surprisingly are not hollow, and the jawbone is made of one bone, not two as Galen previously thought. In the preface of his book, he called doctors out for being too lazy, and was upset that they were only prescribing drugs to patients instead of actually taking the time to learn about anatomy and surgery. “When the whole business was committed to the barbers, not only did the true knowledge of the viscera disappear from among the doctors, but also their activity in dissecting straightway died.” (primary source). Here, Vesalius claimed that doctors only pass on surgery to barbers, or military surgeons instead of doing it themselves, and wished they would take the time to dissect bodies, and be more hands on. Vesalius made many important discoveries for medicine, however he was not the only anatomist in the time period to correct
Vesalius, also known as the father of modern anatomy, was the first to dissect a human body and accurately take notes on it. He dissected executed criminals, and strongly advocated for hands-on learning. He even held public dissections to educate his students, and unlike other scientists with the opportunity to dissect bodies, was not afraid to correct Galen’s anatomical errors. His book, On the Fabric of the Human Body, was an extraordinary resource for doctors at the time, as it corrected Galen on many body parts and functions. It made huge strides for medicine by including many important discoveries he made from dissection, such as that nerves, surprisingly are not hollow, and the jawbone is made of one bone, not two as Galen previously thought. In the preface of his book, he called doctors out for being too lazy, and was upset that they were only prescribing drugs to patients instead of actually taking the time to learn about anatomy and surgery. “When the whole business was committed to the barbers, not only did the true knowledge of the viscera disappear from among the doctors, but also their activity in dissecting straightway died.” (primary source). Here, Vesalius claimed that doctors only pass on surgery to barbers, or military surgeons instead of doing it themselves, and wished they would take the time to dissect bodies, and be more hands on. Vesalius made many important discoveries for medicine, however he was not the only anatomist in the time period to correct