Timeline Description: Andreas Vesalius is often called the founder of human anatomy. He studied and taught about the human body when most people had no knowledge of it at all, and his famous and influential book on the subject is still studied today.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 31, 1514 | Andreas is born Andreas was born in Brussels, Habsburg, Netherlands. Today it is called Belgium. |
| 1537 | Graduation from college Andreas graduated with a doctorate after studying in Paris and Padua. As soon as he graduated, he was made Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the University of Padua. |
| 1538 | Teachings on the body Using his own studies and observations, Andreas taught his students using charts he had created. When he realized the charts were being copied, he officially published them and called them Tabulae anatomicae sex. |
| 1539 | Further writings People were impressed with Andreas' observations. They wanted more information, so he went on to publish Institutiones anatomicae, which was an updated version of an anatomical handbook. |
| 1541 | A disturbing discovery Up to this point in history, the people of the day followed the medical teachings of Galen. However, Andreas discovered that Galen's teaching were all based on animal dissections instead of the human body. |
| 1543 | A human dissection Determined to teach with the most accurate information, Andreas decided to perform a human dissection. He used the body of a deceased felon in order to learn more about the human body; the skeleton of this subject is still preserved today in a museum in Basel. |
| 1543 | On the Fabric of the Human Body After his dissection, Andreas began a book that would become famous and live on for centuries. On the Fabric of the Human Body is a textbook still used today. |
| 1540's | An Imperial physician(Late 1540's) At some point after the publication of his book, Andreas was invited to move to the court of Emperor Charles V. He moved to the royal court and worked as the king's Imperial physician. |
| 1546 | A paper on the China root One of Galen's most recognized treatments of the day was the use of the China root. Andreas Vesalius published a paper which pointed out how useless the China root was for treating ailments. |
| 1551 | Personal attacks Physicians who had long followed Galen's teachings resented Andreas' success. They launched personal attacks on his methods, and Andreas was eventually investigated and cleared of any wrong doing. |
| 1553 | More controversy Andreas' personal attacks grew when he published Christianismi Restitutio. In this paper he disproved Galen's theories on the heart, and his enemies grew in number. |
| 1555 | An updated text After years of hands-on learning, Andreas updated his famous textbook, On the Fabric of the Human Body. He released the revised edition in 1555. |
| 1561 | A professional rebuke A man named Gabriele Fallopio, who also studied human anatomy, published a public but friendly correction to Andreas' famous textbook. Andreas took the correction in stride, and recognized the areas he had been wrong. |
| 1564 | Andreas leaves the Imperial court Andreas left the Imperial court in order to take a journey to the Holy Land. Throughout history it has been believed that he was forced to leave because of his controversial teachings, but this has never been proven. |
| 1564 | Andreas' death During his journey, the ship encountered bad weather and the ship was wrecked. Andreas died due to injuries in the wreck; he was around 50 years old. |