Andreas Vesalius was a Flemish physician who studied medicine in Paris, Louvain, and Padua. Though his professors followed the methods of the ancient physician Galen, Vesalius did not agree with this practice. Vesalius believed that the study of human anatomy should be based on visible proof gained from dissecting human bodies, not from Galen’s theories, which were based on the dissection of animals and the ideas of Hippocrates. In 1543, Vesalius published De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), considered by many to be the world’s most influential book of anatomy. The information and image presented here were obtained from: http://www.vesaliusfabrica.com/en/vesalius/biography.html. The image is public domain.