Throughout history there have been many factors that have helped to improve surgery and the understanding of anatomy. How important has war been in improving surgery and the understanding of anatomy compared with other factors?

An accurate understanding of human anatomy escaped medical academics throughout much of western history. Over time, numerous factors allowed for a better understanding of anatomy, and by extension, surgery. Although many historians believe that human war is a major factor in the improvement of our knowledge of anatomy, this is incorrect. Conflict has played a very small part in our understanding of anatomy and surgery. Some of the most influential anatomical drawings produced in Western history were those created by Galen during the Roman period. Galen had an intimate understanding of injuries caused by conflict, as he worked as a surgeon among gladiators in Rome. While undertaking this work, he produced many theories about the nature of human anatomy, human illness, and medical treatment which would be accepted and disseminated throughout medieval Europe. Yet Galen’s drawings were not based on human dissection and had many errors. For example, he attributed venous blood production to the liver, rather than the heart. It was not until the Renaissance in Italy that Europeans began to investigate anatomy further. These anatomists were mainly scholars and artists, not military doctors or common medical practitioners. Leonardo da Vinci famously dissected human corpses and drew many anatomical images with a new focus on accuracy. In the 16^th century, another Italian artist and scholar named Vesalius became the first to publish a comprehensive treatise on human anatomy, based on dissection. This was called the De humani corpois fabrica. The use of human corpses for dissection became wide-spread in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. In England, the Royal College of Surgeons and the Company of Barber Surgeons were granted legal access to corpses of convicted criminals to be used for dissection. Anatomical theatres were built near many hospitals and execution grounds for these purposes. Additionally, the printing press allowed for anatomical images to be widely disseminated among all physicians and these visual illustrations meant that even physicians who did not understand Latin, could still understand anatomy. These developments all occurred in academic climates, rather than conflict zones. By the time of the First World War, human anatomy was well understood, and surgeons went into the war with the necessary knowledge of human anatomy. While application of medical techniques may have changed significantly as unique injuries were presented to surgeons in war, the understanding of anatomy did not change. Indeed, if conflict was a major factor in developing our understanding of anatomy – Galen would have been far more accurate.