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Functional Atlas of the Human Fascial System

2015; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.06.010

1532-9283

Jan Dommerholt,

History of Medicine Studies

It is rare to get the opportunity to review a book that fills a void like no other. Often, medical textbooks are updated variations of previous publications perhaps from a slightly different perspective, or based on new theoretical developments in a particular field, or featuring new treatment techniques. In the field of anatomy, most anatomy books are variations of topographical representations of the human body with a review of isolated anatomical structures, such as muscles, bones, ligaments, nerves, and occasionally the skin, going all the way back to Vesalius. Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), a professor of anatomy at the University of Padua in northern Italy, was only twenty-eight years old when he published "De humani corporis fabrica libri septem," which became one of the most influential anatomy atlases in history. Vesalius' atlas was a true parting from the writings of the ancient Greek authority Aelius Galen, which for many centuries dominated European medical science even though the anatomical drawings were based on dissections of mammals, including pigs and monkeys.