Andreas Vesalius

Andreas Vesalius was an anatomist and physician from Brussels, often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy. Professor at Padua from 1537, he dissected human bodies himself and found that Galen's anatomy rested on the dissection of animals; he showed, for instance, that the lower jaw is a single bone, not two. His De humani corporis fabrica, published in Basel in 1543 with 273 illustrations, was a major advance on the long-dominant work of Galen. He later served as physician to the emperor Charles V and to Philip II of Spain.