A Brief History of the Study of Human Anatomy

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A Brief History of the Study ofHuman Anatomy
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Early Egyptians

• Perfected the science of mummification.
• Major organs were removed and placed in jars.
• Body cavity was filled with a sawdust-like
  material.
• Body was wrapped in linen cloth shrouds.

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Alexandria, Egypt

• The study of anatomy flourished in Alexandria
  between 300-150 B.C.
• Only criminals were allowed to be dissected
  because these early cultures were very
  superstitious and believed that an intact body
  was necessary for a successful afterlife.

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Roman Influence

• In 30 B.C. Alexandria was conquered by the Roman
  Empire.
• The Romans were interested in power, wealth and
  military strength, not in anatomical studies.
• Romans outlawed anatomical studies and human
  dissections.

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Roman Empire
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Galen of Pergamen

• Perhaps one of the brightest spots in the early
  history of anatomy was the work of a Greek
  physician named Galen (120-300 A.D.).
• Galen had been trained in the Alexandrian
  tradition and wanted to further the scientific
  study of the human body.

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Galen of Pergamen120-300 A.D.
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Galens Work

• Because human dissections were outlawed by the
  Romans, Galen wrote an anatomy textbook based on
  his dissections of the Barbary ape, a primate
  similar to man.
• While the text was helpful it had many
  inaccuracies.

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The Barbary Ape
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Title Page of Galens Anatomy Text
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Illustration from Galens Text
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Galens Influence

• Galens anatomy textbook, based on the dissection
  of the Barbary ape, became the accepted authority
  on human anatomy for 1300 years!
• How could this be?

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The Dark Ages (400 1100 A.D.)

• Barbarians from Asia, such as Attila and the
  Huns, overran and destroyed the Roman Empire.
• Many of the scientific writings were destroyed.

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Dark Ages

• Fortunately some of these documents were salvaged
  by the Moslems and translated into their
  language, Arabic.

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Rediscovery

• About 1100 A.D., Christian scholars discovered
  these Arabic translations and began the slow
  process of translating them into Latin.
• This exposed a wealth of lost and forgotten
  information.
• Not until the 16th century were these works
  finally translated.

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First Autopsy

• In the year 1286 we have reference to a human
  dissection being performed to determine the cause
  of death.
• Today, this procedure is called an autopsy.

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Rise of Medical Schools

• By the early 1300s anatomical studies were again
  becoming fashionable.
• In the medical schools in Italy anatomy
  professors were highly respected figures and so
  they would sit in large throne-like chairs, wear
  academic robes, and read from the re-translated
  text of Galen.

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Rise of Medical Schools

• Barbers actually performed the dissections on
  human subjects while students stood and observed.
• Students were not allowed to participate in the
  dissections.

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A Major Contribution

• During the early Renaissance years, artists,
  sculptors and painters strove to make their
  artwork as human and life-like as possible.
• To do this, they had to study human anatomy on a
  first-hand basis that is, they had to perform
  their own human dissections.

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A Major Contribution

• One of the most famous of these Renaissance
  artists was Leonardo DaVinci.
• His anatomically accurate drawings gave to
  anatomists for the first time illustrations with
  correct anatomical proportions and great
  attention to detail.

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DaVincis Last Supper
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Mona Lisa
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Leonardos Anatomy Drawings
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Leonardos Anatomy Drawings
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Andreas Vesalius

• The man who revolutionized the study of anatomy
  was Andreas Vesalius.
• He realized that to learn anatomy students needed
  to be involved with the dissections.
• He also realized that Galens textbook was
  severely flawed and must be replaced.

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Andreas Vesalius

• Vesalius revolutionized the study of anatomy by
  doing away with the barbers, instead doing human
  dissections himself and having students assist
  instead of just observe.
• He also published his own anatomy textbook which
  contained many anatomically accurate drawings
  based on human dissections.

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De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543)
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De Humani Corporis Fabrica
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De Humani Corporis Fabrica
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De Humani Corporis Fabrica
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Killing Sacred Cows

• Vesalius introduced the idea of killing sacred
  cows, that is, challenging accepted authority
  for the purpose of improving it.
• Because of his revolutionary work at the
  University of Padua, Andreas Vesalius is
  considered to be the Father of Modern Anatomy

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Fabricius

• Vesalius was replaced at the University of Padua
  by a man named Fabricius.
• Fabricius discovered the presence of one-way
  valves in veins, he called them the little
  doors.

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Little Doors
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William Harvey

• The English physician, William Harvey, a student
  of Fabricius, became interested in the
  circulation of the blood.
• Harvey was the first person to describe the heart
  as a pump for blood and he also described
  arteries and veins as blood vessels that carry
  blood throughout the body.

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William Harvey

• Harvey showed that function can be inferred from
  structure and thus became known as the Father
  of Physiology.

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Marcello Malpighi

• With the development of the microscope, the
  Italian anatomist, Marcello Malpighi was able to
  see the tiny blood vessels that Harvey could not
  see but had predicted their presence.
• These tiny vessels Malpighi named capillaries,
  which means hair-like in Latin.

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The End? (anyone been to this show?)