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Scripta Scientifica Medica

Da Vinci`s anatomical mistakes

D. Donmez, O. Taskinalp, A. Z. Y. Kayatekin

Abstract

Leonardo da Vinci is an important philosopher, astronomer, architect, engineer, inventor, mathematician, anat­omist, musician, sculptor, botanist, geologist, cartographer, writer and painter who lived in the Renaissance pe­riod. In addition to his numerous skills, he has made important contributions to anatomy, which are the corner­stones of medicine. Using our modern anatomical knowledge, we can determine that most of da Vinci`s descrip­tions of human anatomy are wrong. For example, he described four umbilical arteries. In the plexus brachialis drawings, it is seen that the thoracic spinal nerve does not participate in its formation. The seminal vesicle was shown incorrectly. He had an idea that semen moves into penis from the spinal cord, so he described the spinal cord extending into the penis. The spleen has an artery, which comes from the liver.

Nevertheless, da Vinci made important discoveries and observable predictions about the facts, which had not been discovered previously. Unlike his contemporaries, he was the only one who carried out the work on the hu­man body so meticulously. His scientific correctness added to Galen`s anatomical teachings.





DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14748/ssm.v49i0.4881
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About The Authors

D. Donmez
Trakya University
Turkey

O. Taskinalp
Trakya University
Turkey

A. Z. Y. Kayatekin
Trakya University
Turkey

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