The Knife Man by Wendy Moore is a Biography on one of the most important doctors in all of history. John Hunter was a surgeon and anatomist who made very important discoveries concerning the functions of the body and technique for safer surgery. The biography begins by discussing the reason Hunter became so fascinated with the human body as well as the paths he chose during his education. From basic surgery Moore discusses Hunter's curiosity for more complex issues such as venereal diseases and embryonic development. Hunter was also responsible for turning grave robbing from a petty crime to a lucrative business and forced Parliament to pass the Anatomy Act of 1832 which gave bodies to local anatomists so that grave robbing would stop.
Hunter worked during the 1750's. Around that period the English and French were engaged in the seven years war. Hunter was dispatched to Portugal in the 1760's to repel Spanish invasion. This was a smaller conflict with in the Seven Years War. When Hunter returned he was confronted a particular institution that was constantly attempting to destroy his reputation The Royal Society had control over all the doctors in London and were stuck in the ancient ways of medicine. They refused to see Hunter's findings as truth and refused to change their ways in light of discoveries made by Hunter. Hunter was a proponent for the scientific method, however The Royal Society refused to stop their old practices of simply trying to balance one of the four humors in order to 'cure' the patients. Yet, like all great scientists, Hunter ignored the society and continued his research apart from them. Another 17th Century institution plagued Hunter's carer and become one of the main reasons he was forced to resort to grave robbing. The Anglican Church gave doctors of that time a hard time. Many people refused to let a doctor touch their body for they believed that the body must remain intact in order to enter into heaven. This idea, which was not new, forced Hunter to turn to other methods aside from donations in order to obtain bodies.
Seeing as this book is a Biography it is not a response to any one event in the history of Medicine. However, there was an important breakthrough in modern surgical procedures around the time of publication. In 2005 Bioengineering came to its first major zenith when a human received the first Robotic arm transplant. This was important first step in modern surgery, whose origins can be traced to John Hunter.
John Hunter was an amazing and brilliant scientist. However, he was a bit eccentric to say the least. He was sort of a real life Frankenstein in the way he wanted to learn as much as he could about the human body. His habit of running head first into many unexplored fields resulted in many strange and often insane events that seem to come right out of a scary story. One of the more grisly is during one of the many scrambles for a recently hung felon, Hunter's team emerged victorious and was able to take the body back into his lab. While it was on the table they began to open him up only to discover that the poor fellow was not dead. Many of these types of stories surround Hunter's life, yet Hunter was not a bad man. He was eccentric and maybe even a little crazy, but not bad or evil. His contributions to the benefit of humanity's existence proves this true.
"First Human Robotic Arm Implant ." www.gizmag.com. 16 Apr. 2009 <http://www.gizmag.com/go/4282/>. Moore, Wendy. The Knife Man. New York: Random House, 2005."Royal Society of London." World History: The Modern Era. 2009. ABC-CLIO. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com>"George III." World History: The Modern Era. 2009. ABC-CLIO. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com>.Weiss, Rick. "Stem Cell Research: The Next Step?" Washing Post. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/05/19/ DI2005051901031.html>. Connolly, Cesi, and Rick Weiss. "House Bill to Ease Stem Cell Curbs Gains Momentum." Washington Post. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051802138.html>.
If I were to teach this class using The Knife Man I would utilize Hunter's paradoxical nature. He was crazy, yet was not a bad scientist (in both senses of the word). I would use this book to show that the mental state of a scientist does not write them off as being greedy or selfish. I would also use this book to show the positive contributions of a Mad scientist. Hunter brought safety and science into Medcine filling a void that had existed since Hypocrites. However, his methods were often unconventional and sometime very scary. Yet his impact in immeasurable.