Body Snatching & the Roots of Anatomy

Andreas Vesalius’s great anatomical atlases allowed us to see inside the human body in revolutionary ways. His focus on human anatomy changed the way we practice medicine by encouraging anatomists, physicians, and students to gain practical experience with human dissection. Woodward Library’s Body Snatching & the Roots of Anatomy exhibit highlights how some of the great anatomists and texts changed the way physicians trained and practiced medicine, as well as the less savoury consequences of anatomy’s increased need for human bodies. By the 18th and 19th centuries, body snatching and the practice of dissecting executed criminals had grown significantly, both capturing the public imagination, and in the case of Edinburgh’s Burke and Hare, inspiring murder.