Celebrating the 500th birthday of the "father of modern anatomy".

• Position: Medical Museums - Vesaiius on the Verge: The Book and the Body exhibition - Andreas Vesalius

Anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius' groundbreaking work in 1543, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) was the first published anatomically accurate atlas of the human body. This book did two things: it corrected errors in the conception of the human body that existed for more than a millennia, and it combined text and artistic illustration in a way that enabled interactive learning.

The exhibition "Vesaiius on the Verge: The Book and the Body" explores the innovative work that positioned Vesaiius at the heart of the European scientific revolution, encouraging visitors to look at both the man and his books, as it incorporates specimens and instruments along with books to create an experience that brings to life some of the more iconic images in Fabrica. For instance, a desiccated body and full skeleton are juxtaposed with illustrations from Vesaiius' books to show the detail rendered in the works.

The exhibit also features a re-creation of Vesaiius' dissection table, using contemporary tools and implements to demonstrate how Vesaiius would have used what he had at his disposal to perform his dissections. There were no special scalpels or bone saws 500 years ago and Vesaiius stressed the skills of his hands over the tools in them.

"The most important aspect of Fabrica was that Vesaiius based the illustrations on his own observations of the human body. He did not rely on existing illustrations that were largely based on...