ABSTRACT
Surgery lends itself to a mechanical view of the body: its role is to repair and replace body parts. It has a history of treating the body as a machine and the patient as a mechanical object. The development of modern surgery begins with a better understanding of human anatomy and develops through the introduction of anesthesia and antiseptic procedures. The chapter describes a series of highlights in the history of surgery primarily from the time of Robert Boyle. It includes short accounts of many surgical advances, describes an early operation, considers some surgical firsts, and talks about the beginnings of the modern hospital. If the body is mechanical then one body is pretty much like others: they have the same muscles, organs and bones. The unique individual in humoral medicine was gradually supplanted by the standardized mechanical patient. The aim was to gain knowledge of the mechanical body and treatments that could be turned into clear protocols.
