1-158-160 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Andreas Vesalius, 16th century Flemish anatomist, c1789-c1798. Vesalius' (1514-1564) great work on anatomy De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body) (1543) was a landmark, with accurate depictions of parts of the body, including the nervous system. Vesalius based his work on dissection and personal observation, disproving the belief that because, in Genesis, God created Eve from Adam's rib, men had one less rib than women. He contradicted Aristotle's teaching that the heart is the seat of the emotions, replacing it with the brain and the nervous system. From Essays in Physiognomy by JK Lavater. (London, 1789-1798).