राजकीय आयुर्विज्ञान संस्थान, उत्तर प्रदेश

Anatomy is the oldest scientific discipline of medicine. The first documented scientific dissections on the human body are carried out as early as the third century B.C. in Alexandria. At that time, anatomists explore anatomy through dissections of animals, primarily pigs and monkeys. Claudius Galen (129-199) is the most prominent physician in Ancient Greece whose conclusions are purely based on the study of animals and whose faulty theories on human anatomy dominate and influence the medical science until the Renaissance, i.e. for over 1,000 years.
Social authorities reject the dissection of human corpses until the 12th and even 13th century. A change in attitude towards the teaching anatomy only happens during the 13th and 14th century. However, teaching consists primarily of lectures from the canonical works of Galen—without verification through actual dissections.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), today’s most well-known Renaissance artist and scientist, performs many anatomical dissections of human corpses that form the basis for his famous, highly detailed anatomical sketches. Leonardo da Vinci passionately studies the human body.
The actual science of anatomy is founded during the Renaissance with the work of anatomist and surgeon, Andreas Vesalius. Vesalius describes what he observes during the public dissection of human corpses. By dissecting human bodies, preparing muscles, tendons, and nerves down to the smallest detail, Vesalius is able to prove more than 200 errors in Galen’s anatomical works. With his comprehensive scientific studies of human bodies, the young professor of medicine not only revolutionizes anatomy, but consequently, the whole science of medicine.
The public interest in anatomy does not wane for several centuries. It is not until the 19th century, when anatomy becomes a science, that the public is excluded from witnessing dissections.