It is illegal for scientists to just start chopping up any dead person they want to. Today only people who have donated their bodies to science can be dissected. In the past only criminals or murderers could be cut up and examined. During some time periods human dissection was completely illegal. When anatomy schools started, the demand for fresh cadavers to dissect was greater than the supply. Zealous anatomy professors and students procured bodies in their own, often illegal ways. These early pioneers of anatomy were dedicated enough to risk jail time for science. That's commitment.
Today, anatomy is a much more respectful science than it was in the past, explains Mary Roach in her book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Labs will even hold memorial services for the bodies they dissect. The past, however, was a different story.
Even the very first roots of anatomy are disturbing. In the year 300 B. C. E. Egyptian King Ptolemy was the first ruler to allow dissection of dead criminals. Unfortunately, one of the most prominent scientists of the era, Herophilus (the Father of Anatomy), got a bit over-excited about his work. He dissected criminals while they were alive! No anesthesia, nothing.
In 18th and 19th century England, the same trend of dissecting criminals (deceased) prevailed, only the pool of corpses anatomists could use had been reduced to only executed murderers. Live dissections were also prohibited.
However, their weren't enough executed murderers needed to fill the body quota needed for anatomy classes. Professors took to buying amputated limbs on the black market and stealing bodies from graves. It actually wasn't illegal to steal the dead from their graves because dead bodies were generally thought to be undesirable, and no one thought to make laws against stealing them.
The history of anatomy is so fascinating and gory I had to split up my original super long post into two parts. Next week I'll post part two, stay tuned for more horrific history!
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