of the soul. He wished to avoid drawing any conclusions due to possible conflict with contemporary religious beliefs. Against Galen's theory and many beliefs he also discovered that there was no hole in the septum or heart. Other achievements Vesalius disproved Galen's assertion that men have more teeth than women. Vesalius introduced the notion of induction of the extraction of empyema through surgical means. Due to his impressive study of the human skull and the variations in its features he is said to have been responsible for the launch of the study of physical anthropology. Vesalius always encouraged his students to check their findings, and even his own findings, so that they could better understand the structure of the human body. In addition to his continual efforts to study anatomy he also worked on medicinal remedies and came to such conclusions as treating syphilis with chinaroot. Vesalius claimed that medicine had three aspects: drugs, diet, and 'the use of hands'—mainly suggesting surgery and the knowledge of anatomy and physiology gained through dissection. Vesalius was a supporter of 'parallel dissections' in which an animal cadaver and a human cadaver are dissected simultaneously in order to demonstrate the anatomical differences and thus correct Galenic errors. Scientific and historical impact The influence of Vesalius' plates representing the partial dissections of the human figure posing in a landscape setting is apparent in the anatomical plates prepared by the Baroque painter Pietro da Cortona (1596–1669), who executed anatomical plates with figures in dramatic poses, most of them with architectural or landscape backdrops. In 1844, botanists Martin Martens and Henri Guillaume Galeotti published Vesalea, which is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae and it was named in Vesalius's honour. See also Androtomy Brain Renaissance InVesalius Medical Renaissance Physician writer Timeline of medicine and medical technology Vesalius College References Sources Dear, Peter. Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge and Its Ambitions, 1500–1700. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2001. Debus, Allen, ed. Vesalius. Who's Who in the World of Science: From Antiquity to Present. 1st ed. Hanibal: Western Co., 1968. O'Malley, CD. Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514–1564. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964. Porter, Roy, ed. Vesalius. The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists. 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford University P, 1994. Saunders, JB de CM and O'Malley, Charles D. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of Brussels. New York: Dover, 1973 [reprint]. "Vesalius." Encyclopedia Americana. 1992. Vesalius, Andreas.