Andrea Vesalius

• Year of Discovery: 1543

• What Is It? The first scientific, accurate guide to human anatomy.

• Who Discovered It? Andreas Vesalius

• Why Is This One of the Science Greatest?

The human anatomy references used by doctors through the year A.D. 1500 were actually based mostly on animal studies, more myth and error than truth. Andreas Vesalius was the first to insist on dissections, on exact physiological experiment and direct observation—scientific methods—to create his anatomy guides. His were the first reliable, accurate books on the structure and workings of the human body.

Versalius’s work demolished the long-held reliance on the 1,500-year-old anatomical work by the early Greek, Galen, and marked a permanent turning point for medicine. For the first time, actual anatomical fact replaced conjecture as the basis for medical profession.

• Fun Facts: The average human brain weighs three pounds and contains 100 billion brain cells that connect with each other through 500 trillion dendrites! No wonder it was hard for Vesalius to see individual neurons.

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anatomy, discovery, Science