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MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES
Fundamentals of anatomy. History and essence of scientific discovery
Directory / The most important scientific discoveries In the Middle Ages, attention to the body was considered sinful and persecuted; autopsies were banned or limited to isolated cases. Under such conditions, the study of anatomy could not develop. On the contrary, the culture of the Renaissance, putting man in the center of attention, began to study his body. Not only doctors were engaged in anatomy, but also scientists, who were far from it in their main activity. So, Leonardo da Vinci was an anatomist. In collaboration with physicians, Leonardo performed autopsies and anatomical sketches in hospitals for many years. Many other artists of this era also paid tribute to anatomy - Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer. The desire to master nature, to subjugate it to oneself, to discover its secrets, could not but put forward the task of overcoming diseases. And this for the advanced people of this era meant to study in reality, in practice, what the disease is expressed in, what phenomena it causes. So, first of all, it was necessary to study the human body. The Belgian (Flemish) Vesalius is justly considered the creator of modern anatomy and the founder of the school of anatomists. Andreas Vesalius (real name Witting) (1514-1564) born in Brussels Andreas grew up in a family of hereditary doctors. His grandfather and great-grandfather were doctors, and his father served as a pharmacist at the court of Emperor Charles V. The interests of those around him undoubtedly influenced the interests and aspirations of young Vesalius. Andreas studied first at school, and then at the University of Louvain, where he received a versatile education, studied Greek and Latin, thanks to which he could get acquainted with the works of scientists already in his youth. Obviously, he read a lot of books about medicine by ancient and contemporary scientists, since his works speak of deep knowledge. Vesalius himself, from the bones of the executed, assembled a complete human skeleton. It was the first anatomical manual in Europe. Every year Vesalius became more and more interested in the study of medicine, in anatomical studies. In his free time from teaching, he carefully dissected the bodies of animals at home: mice, cats, dogs, - he enthusiastically studied the structure of their body. In an effort to improve his knowledge in the field of medicine, especially anatomy, Vesalius at the age of seventeen went to the University of Montpellier, and in 1533 he first appeared at the medical faculty of the University of Paris to listen to the lectures of the famous anatomist Sylvius. Young Vesalius could already be critical of the method of teaching anatomy. In the preface to the treatise On the Structure of the Human Body, he wrote: “My studies would never have led to success if, during my medical work in Paris, I had not applied my own hands to this matter ... And I myself, somewhat sophisticated with my own experience, publicly performed a third of the autopsies on his own." Vesalius asks questions in lectures that indicate his doubts about the correctness of Galen's teachings. Galen is an indisputable authority, his teachings should be accepted without any reservations, and Vesalius trusts more to his eyes than to the works of Galen. The scientist rightly considered anatomy to be the basis of medical knowledge, and the goal of his life was the desire to revive the experience of the distant past, to develop and improve the method of studying human anatomy. However, the church, which hindered the development of the natural sciences, forbade the autopsy of human corpses, considering it blasphemy. The young anatomist had to overcome many difficulties. In order to be able to do anatomy, he used every opportunity. If there was money in his pocket, he negotiated with the cemetery watchman, and then a corpse suitable for autopsy fell into his hands. If there was no money, he, hiding from the watchman, opened the grave himself, without his knowledge. What to do, I had to take risks! Vesalius studied the bones of the human and animal skeleton so well that he could name any bone by touch without looking at them. Vesalius spent three years at the university, and then circumstances developed in such a way that he had to leave Paris and go again to Louvain. There Vesalius got into trouble. He removed the corpse of the executed criminal from the gallows and performed an autopsy. The Louvain clergy demanded the strictest punishment for such blasphemy. Vesalius realized that disputes were useless here, and considered it good to leave Louvain and went to Italy. After receiving his doctorate in 1537, Vesalius began teaching anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. The government of the Venetian Republic encouraged the development of the science of nature and sought to expand the work of scientists in this direction. The brilliant talent of the young scientist was noticed. The twenty-two-year-old Vesalius, who had already received the title of Doctor of Medicine for his work, was appointed to the Department of Surgery with the duty of teaching anatomy. He gave lectures with inspiration, which always attracted many listeners, worked with students and, most importantly, continued his research. And the deeper he studied the internal structure of the body, the more he became convinced that there were many very significant errors in Galen's teachings, which those who were under the influence of Galen's authority simply did not notice. For four long years he worked on his work. He studied, translated and republished the works of medical scientists of the past, his anatomist predecessors. And in their writings, he found many errors. "Even the greatest scientists," wrote Vesalius, "slavishly adhered to other people's oversights and some strange style in their unsuitable manuals." The scientist began to trust the most authentic book - the book of the human body, in which there are no errors. At night, by candlelight, Vesalius dissected corpses. He set himself the goal of solving the great task of correctly describing the location, shape and function of the organs of the human body. The result of the passionate and persistent work of the scientist was the famous treatise in seven books, which appeared in 1543 and was entitled "On the structure of the human body." It was a gigantic scientific work, in which, instead of obsolete dogmas, new scientific views were presented. It reflected the cultural upsurge of mankind during the Renaissance. Typography developed rapidly in Venice and in Basel, where Vesalius printed his work. His book is decorated with beautiful drawings by the artist Stefan Kalkar, a student of Titian. It is characteristic that the skeletons depicted in the drawings stand in poses characteristic of living people, and the landscapes surrounding some of the skeletons speak of life, not death. All this work of Vesalius was aimed at the benefit of a living person, at studying his body in order to find an opportunity to preserve his health and life. Each capital letter in the treatise is adorned with a drawing depicting children studying anatomy. So it was in antiquity: the art of anatomy was taught from childhood, knowledge was passed from father to son. The magnificent artistic composition of the frontispiece of the book depicts Vesalius during a public lecture and an autopsy of a man. Vesalius pointed out a number of Galen's mistakes regarding the structure of the arm, pelvic girdle, sternum, etc., but, above all, the structure of the heart. Galen argued that there is a hole in the heart septum of an adult, preserved from fetal age, and that therefore blood penetrates from the right ventricle directly into the left. Having established the impermeability of the cardiac septum, Vesalius could not help but come to the conclusion that there must be some other way for blood to penetrate from the right heart to the left. Having described the valves of the heart, Vesalius created the basic prerequisites for the discovery of the pulmonary circulation, but this discovery was already made by his successors. "The work of Vesalius," wrote the famous Russian scientist I. Pavlov, is the first human anatomy in the recent history of mankind, not only repeating the instructions and opinions of ancient authorities, but based on the work of a free investigating mind. The work of Vesalius excited the minds of scientists. The boldness of his scientific thought was so unusual that, along with the followers who appreciated his discoveries, he had many enemies. The great scientist experienced a lot of grief when even his students left him. The famous Silvius, the teacher of Vesalius, called Vesalius "Vezanus", which means - insane. He opposed it with a scathing pamphlet which he called "A defense against slander against anatomical works. Hippocrates and Galen from the side of some madman." Most eminent doctors really took the side of Sylvius. They joined his demand to curb and punish Vesalius, who dared to criticize the great Galen. Such was the strength of recognized authorities, such were the foundations of public life of that time, when any innovation aroused alertness, any bold statement that went beyond the established canons was regarded as freethinking. These were the fruits of the centuries-old ideological monopoly of the church, which imposed rigidity and routine. Having opened dozens of corpses, having carefully studied the human skeleton, Vesalius came to the conclusion that the opinion that men have one rib less than women is completely wrong. But such a belief went beyond medical science. It affected church doctrine. Vesalius did not reckon with another statement of the churchmen. In his time, the belief was preserved that in the human skeleton there is a bone that does not burn in fire, is indestructible. It supposedly contains a mysterious power, with the help of which a person will be resurrected on the day of the Last Judgment in order to appear before the Lord God. And although no one saw this bone, it was described in scientific works, there was no doubt about its existence. Vesalius, who described the structure of the human body, bluntly stated that, while examining the human skeleton, he did not find a mysterious bone. Vesalius was aware of the consequences of his speeches against Galen. He understood that he was opposed to the prevailing opinion, offending the interests of the church: “I set myself the task of showing the structure of a person on himself. Galen, on the other hand, performed autopsies not on people, but on animals, especially monkeys. It was not his fault - he had no other opportunity. But those who now, having human organs before their eyes, persist in repeating mistakes, are to blame. Should respect for the memory of a major figure be expressed in repeating his mistakes? It is impossible, like parrots, to repeat the contents of books from the pulpits without making their own observations. at the butchers." Vesalius was an innovator not only in the study but also in the teaching of anatomy. He accompanied his lectures with demonstrations of a corpse, as well as a skeleton and a sitter. He accompanied anatomical demonstrations with various experiments on living animals. In the work of Vesalius, special attention is paid to the nature of the drawings, nowhere in his corpse is depicted lying, motionless, but everywhere dynamic, in motion, in working poses. This peculiar manner of rendering the body represented the transition from descriptive anatomy to physiology. The drawings in the book of Vesalius give an idea not only about the structure, but also partly about the functions of the body. Author: Samin D.K.
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