Important People in the History of Surgery
| Galen | Vesalius | Pare | Harvey | |
| Born | AD130 | 1514 | 1510 | 1578 |
| Studied | Alexandria | Paris | Barber Surgeon | Padua |
| Practised | Rome | Bologna / Padua | On Battlefield for 25 Years (Army Surgeon) | London |
| Dissection? | Some Humans | Humans at Padua | Compared anatomy of Animals & Humans | |
| Mainly on Animals Apes, Pigs & Dogs | ||||
| Book | cAD90 - On Anatomy | 1543 - The Fabric of the Human Body | 1515 - Works on Surgery | 1625 - On the movement of the heart & blood in animals |
| 1585 - The Apology and Treatise | ||||
| Contribution to Medicine | Book was in use for 1400yrs after his death. Gathered main medical ideas so far. Through dissection new ideas on anatomy and physiology. Brain controlled body. | Very Close observation through dissection of whole body. Hired artists to do detailed drawings of body. Proved Galen wrong: no holes in heart, women had same number of ribs and one jaw bone. | New methods for treating bullet wounds (a new problem). He did not cauterise. Amputation - tied veins - ligature method | Circulation of blood through body. Found out 1-way system - valves etc. Heart is a pump. |
| Factors Affecting Discoveries | Centre of learning at Alexandria. Dissection. Hippocrates' ideas. Ideas from India. | Padua University | WAR: Gunpowder was a new problem. CHANCE: He ran out of elder oil | Taught by Fabricius. Surrounded by machinery - compared to body. Others before him eg. Vesalius, Fabricius. New discoveries - printing & drawing. London: new ideas on maths, science & medicine. Royal College of Physicians. |
| All human dissection. No intervention from Pope. Translation of Galen's book. Accurate drawings. Printing Press spread ideas. | ||||
| How was work received? | Leading doctor of the time - treated Emperor. | Criticised for disputing Galen's work. (Slowly proved correct). | Attacked by Paris College of Physicians - Suppressed his Books | Many articles written against him. |
| Immediate Value | Yes - ideas fitted with Greek thinking. | Church opposed; few could dissect. Slow acceptance of ideas. | Cauterising continued. Wounds could easily go septic using Pare's methods. 400 Years to antiseptics. | Did not change the way patients were treated. Not accepted for 100 years. |
Main Index | Physics | Biology | History | Formulae | Misc | Why?
This page hosted by 
Get
your own
Free Home Page