An understanding of the structure of the human body is essential to medicine and surgery. However, where culture, religion, and taboo forbade human cadaveric dissection, the anatomically curious had to rely on dissecting animals on the assumption that their comparative anatomy is similar. The ancient Egyptians learned their anatomy from mummification. In the third century BCE, two Greek Physicians, Herophilus and Erasistratus, were able to undertake human cadaveric dissection in Alexandria and so advance anatomical knowledge. However, later physicians such as Galen in the second century CE had to base their knowledge on animal dissection and the Arab physicians and surgeons were similarly limited during medieval times. Cadaveric dissection resumed in the fourteenth century in Europe, and soon European Universities were required to provide exposure to dissection for their medical students. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) advanced anatomical knowledge which was progressively added to by French and English surgeon anatomists, including John Hunter in England. With sound anatomical foundations, a better understanding of human physiology was able to be developed. The chapter concludes with a section on surgical tools of the trade from ancient to modern times. The tools covered include scalpels, cautery and sutures.