Dissection
Human dissections were carried out by the Greek physicians Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Chios in the early part of the third century BC. During this period, the first exploration into full human anatomy was performed rather than a base knowledge gained from 'problem-solution' delving. While there was a deep taboo in Greek culture concerning human dissection, there was at the time a strong push by the Ptolemaic government to build Alexandria into a hub of scientific study. For a time, Roman law forbade dissection and autopsy of the human body, so physicians had to use other cadavers. Galen, for example, dissected the Barbary macaque and other primates, assuming their anatomy was basically the same as that of humans.
George Amos Dorsey
Dorsey had achieved some early media notoriety in 1897 and 1898 when he was called to aid the investigation of the murder of Louisa Luetgert in Chicago. He was one of the first anthropologists called to testify as an expert forensic witness in a murder case; he had identified four tiny fragments of bone as human and helped gain the arrest and conviction of Adolph Luetgert for the sensational murder of his wife in 1897. The murder case received national coverage from newspapers. Luetgert was convicted of the murder in his second trial.