In the pursuit of knowledge Dissection, post-mortem surgery and the retention of body parts in 18th- and 19th-century Britain

• Published in: Body Parts and Bodies Whole p. 135
• Main Author: Annia Cherryson
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Oxbow Books 30.06.2010
• Subjects: Anatomy; Applied sciences; Archaeological excavation; Archaeological methods; Archaeology; Autopsies; Biological sciences; Biology; Body tissues; Bones; Connective tissues; Criminal investigation; Dissection; Economic disciplines; Economics; Employment; Field archaeology; Forensic medicine; Forensic sciences; Government; Government services; Health sciences; Labor economics; Laboratory techniques; Law enforcement; Law enforcement procedures; Medical personnel; Medical specialties; Musculoskeletal system; Occupations; Pathology; Physicians; Political science; Postmortem examinations; Skeleton; Skull; Social sciences; Specimen handling; Surgeons; Surgical specialties
• ISBN: 1842174029; 9781842174029

Fundamental changes in medical philosophy during the 17th century saw the corpse becoming increasingly central to medical education and research. The writings of Hypocrites and Galen that had underpinned medieval medicine were being increasingly questioned (Porter 2003: 50). The ‘new philosophers’ of the 17th century took a more mechanistic approach to nature, arguing that living organisms were subject to the same universal laws of matter as inanimate objects, thus envisioning the human body as a living machine (ibid. 50–51, French 1993: 93). This new more scientific climate favoured experimentation over reification, with the internal workings of the body becoming