Amputation and Prostheses in Early Modern Europe: A New Story about Medicine and Embodied Knowledge-Making

By Heidi Hausse

This book uncovers a new narrative about medicine and embodied knowledge-making in early modern Europe through the lens of amputation and prostheses. It delves into the heated debates that arose from changing practices of removing limbs, revealing tense moments in which decisions to operate were made. The book also explores the material culture of mechanical hands that amputees commissioned locksmiths, clockmakers, and other artisans to create, shedding light on their roles in developing a new prosthetic technology.

Over two centuries of surgical and artisanal interventions, a growing perception emerged that humans could alter the body – that it was malleable. This perception, fundamental to biomedicine today, is explored in depth in this unique study.

Product Details

Publisher: Manchester University Press (June 17, 2023)

Language: English

Hardcover: 288 pages

ISBN-10: 152616065X

ISBN-13: 978-1526160652