[troutman]

Since the health of our citizens is of paramount importance, my first selection is in the DOCTOR category:

Andreas Vesalius (December 31, 1514 – October 15, 1564) was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Vesalius



Vesalius was born in Brussels, then in the Habsburg Netherlands, to a family of physicians

In 1528 Vesalius entered the University of Louvain (Pedagogium Castrense) taking arts, but when his father was appointed as the Valet de Chambre in 1532, he decided to pursue a career in medicine at the University of Paris, where he moved in 1533. Here he studied the theories of Galen under the auspices of Jacques Dubois (Jacobus Sylvius) and Jean Fernel. It was during this time that he developed his interest in anatomy, and was often found examining bones at the Cemetery of the Innocents.

Vesalius was forced to leave Paris in 1536 due to the opening of hostilities between the Holy Roman Empire and France, and returned to Leuven. Here he completed his studies under Johannes Winter von Andernach and graduated the next year. His thesis, Paraphrasis in nonum librum Rhazae medici arabis clariss. ad regem Almansorum de affectuum singularum corporis partium curatione, was a commentary on the ninth book of Rhazes. He remained at Leuven only briefly before leaving after a dispute with his professor. After settling briefly in Venice in 1536, he moved to the University of Padua (Universitas artistarum) to study for his doctorate, which he received in 1537.

On graduation he was immediately offered the chair of Surgery and Anatomy (explicator chirurgiae) at Padua. He also guest lectured at Bologna and Pisa. Previously these topics had been taught primarily from reading classic texts, mainly Galen, followed by an animal dissection by a barber-surgeon whose work was directed by the lecturer. No attempt was made to actually check Galen's claims; these were considered unassailable. Vesalius, on the other hand, carried out dissection as the primary teaching tool, handling the actual work himself while his students clustered around the table. Hands-on direct observation was considered the only reliable resource, a huge break with medieval practice.

Modern medicine is forever in debt to the efforts put forth by Vesalius and his ethic to provide the most accurate form of the human body. The manner in which Vesalius tended to his work could arguably be thought of as more significant than the work itself. By overthrowing the Galenic tradition and relying on his own observations, Vesalius created a new scientific method. His desire to strive for the truth is most evident through his ability to correct his own claims and to continually reshape his thoughts on the human body. Through his attention to detail, he was able to provide clear descriptions and unprecedented anatomical drawings that set a new standard for future medical books.

Andreas Vesalius's De Humani Corporis Fabrica
De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) is one of the most influential works in the history of Western medicine. It was conceived and written by 28-year-old Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a professor at the University of Padua. Vesalius was both a gifted dissector and a learned scholar whose great contribution was to apply to anatomy the critical methods developed by the Renaissance humanist scholars.
Turn The Pages

http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com...-day-vesalius/

Vesalius obtained the corpses for his dissections from grave robbers. A judge who became interested in Vesalius’ work made the bodies of executed criminals available to him. In some of the illustrations in De Humani, Vesalius has included the noose around the neck.