The Knife Man by Wendy Moore

This title is the winner of the Medical Journalists' Open Book Award 2005. Revered and feared in equal measure, John Hunter was the most famous surgeon of eighteenth-century London. Rich or poor, aristocrat or human freak, suffering Georgians knew that Hunter's skills might well save their lives but if he failed, their corpses could end up on his dissecting table, their bones and organs destined for display in his remarkable, macabre museum. Maverick medical pioneer, adored teacher, brilliant naturalist, Hunter was a key figure of the Enlightenment who transformed surgery, advanced biological understanding and even anticipated the evolutionary theories of Darwin. He provided inspiration both for Dr Jekyll and Dr Dolittle. But the extremes to which he went to pursue his scientific mission raised question marks then as now. John Hunter's extraordinary world comes to life in this remarkable, award-winning biography written by a wonderful new talent.

A fascinating biography of one of the fathers of modern surgery. This is not for the squeamish or those who cannot bear to admit or face the realities of what brought us to our vaunted state of enlightenment. It's a progressive world that we live in and sometimes scientists and researchers step outside the boundaries of what is strictly legal in order to make fascinating new discoveries and push the boundaries of both what we know and what we're capable of. The ethics are a little dodgy, in some cases more than others, but read the book and decide for yourself. Personally I'm grateful for the advances in modern medicine, and that I wasn't in need of medical attention in the mid-eighteenth century.

phillygirl reviewed this book on 3 December 2007:
This was a very interesting read and I can only agree with akika when she says she's grateful for all the advances of modern medicine but even more grateful that she wasn't one of the folks around in the mid-eighteenth century who needed medical assistance. I think for me what was so fascinating, since we're all so used to how medicine works these days and that all new medical advances should go thru a number of tests and trials before being let loose on the general public, is how differently things worked back in the day. The number of "surgeons" of the day who were obstinately opposed to testing new theories, or even to thinking for themselves is frightening.

I for one am heading onto Google right now to see where Hunter's preparations from his museum can be found (if any have survived to this day & age).

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