Dissection as a Method of Modern European Anatomy: Devoted to the 480th Anniversary of “De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem” by Andreas Vesalius

Abstract

The article is devoted to the 480th anniversary of the publication of Andreas Vesalius’s “De humani corporis fabrica libri septem” and considers its biographical, historical, cultural contexts. The authors compare the results of Andreas Vesalius' investigation to other anatomical studies in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, presenting Vesalius’s work as the creation of a new European scientific approach in anatomy, identical to a research experiment in physics. It is demonstrated the significance of the dissection method in the form proposed by Andreas Vesalius for modern anatomy and medicine. The principal work of Andreas Vesalius is considered as the most important source of anatomical vocabulary, which is the prototype of international anatomical nomenclature. The biographical and historical issues presented by the authors allow modern readers to reveal the meanings of Andreus Vesalius’s paper, the original meaning of which was lost with all the time that has passed. The results of modern studies investigating the work of the great Flemish anatomist, little known to the Russian reader, are presented.