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.
Axel Cappelen
At Rikshospitalet he is credited with performing the first surgery on a human heart on 4 September 1895. The patient needed emergency surgery due to a knife wound. Cappelen accessed the thoracic cavity by cutting through the fourth rib. He repaired the wound of the left ventricle where he has sustained the stab wounds in the left side of his chest. After two days of intensive care, the patient died of coronary occlusion and not because of the repairing of the heart. At the autopsy the wound was found to be satisfactorily closed.