Andreas Vesalius -activities

Andreas Vesalius

A series of activities on the life and work of Andreas Vesalius

Find three developments or changes to medical thinking or practice that Vesalius was responsible for.

Put these in order of importance.

Explain why you think that this is the correct order of importance.

Which of Vesalius’ findings would be most opposed at the time and why do you think this?

Which of Galen's theories did Vesalius disprove?

Why were Vesalius’ drawings so important to future medical developments?

Examination style questions

Briefly describe the main features of Andreas Vesalius’ work. (5)

Could Vesalius have made these changes prior to the renaissance? (10)

Sample answers to examination style questions: read through these and analyse what is included and what is missing from these answers. 1) Vesalius work was based on drawings and writing books. He made some suggestions that Galen was wrong about anatomy. He worked in Padua and fell out with his professor over how to bleed patients. His work is considered to be very important.This answer is very basic. It provides some of the detail required but doesn't go into any depth about the nature of his work. This is a low level response.2) Vesalius' work focused largely upon 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. Vesalius' work is noted for being a turning point in medical history. It identified weaknesses in the theories of Hippocrates and Galen, his theory regarding Septum for example. His works also provided detailed, and accurate, drawings and explanations of the workings of the human body: which was another important development in medicine.This answer recognises the main focus of Vesalius' work and explains the significance of the developments that he made. It pinpoints the areas in which Vesalius made breakthroughs and makes reference to other factors, such as technology, that made Vesalius' work possible. This is a higher level response.

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