Anatomy and embryology in medical education at Cambridge University, 1866-1900

The teaching of anatomy remains controversial to the present day. This paper explores the arguments over its merits in medical and scientific education at one of the ancient universities.

Medical professors at Cambridge University relied upon the science departments to provide basic scientific instruction, whilst science professors relied upon medical students to make up numbers for their courses.

Human anatomy became a source of contention: did it really educate the mind, or was it simply a dry subject that medical students had to learn by rote? Could the university even cater for professional education?