A 3,000-year-old skeleton with a hole in the skull is evidence of trephination. In Ancient Rome, Galenus studied anatomy by treating gladiators. Medieval “barber surgeons” were more bloody craftsmen than doctors—until the French King Louis XIV helped surgery become a recognized science.

The first experiments with ether and chloroform conquer pain, as breakthroughs in hygiene stop infections. Going under the knife is safer than ever, and a bold generation of men and women transforms surgery into the sophisticated science we know today.