Medical technologies and the social strategies of two surgical instrument makers in Denmark and Sweden, 1870–1900

Abstract

Technical professions were important agents in medicine and its knowledge production in the nineteenth century. This paper will look more closely at two examples of the social strategies used by Danish surgical instrument maker Camillus Nyrop and his Swedish colleague, Max Stille respectively. Although the work of these two instrument makers attracted attention both within their respective countries as well as internationally, and they were regular fixtures in medical circles, their contributions have merited little academic interest thus far. By examining the social strategies used by nineteenth century technicians, in this case surgical instrument makers, we might better understand the interrelationships between technical professions and physicians in the knowledge production of modern medicine and the interplay between medicine and commerce.