To my understanding, nowadays, the standard way to fix a broken bone is to attach all the pieces together with a metal plate and some screws.
But how did they come with that idea ? Did people thought that the first surgeon doing so was crazy when they went to the hardware store to buy a drill ? Or was it immediately accepted by the community ?
I thought setting the broken bones and putting the limb in a plaster cast until it healed was the standard.
I would assume that a surgeon at one point saw someone repairing wooden framing or such and thought that looked like a good idea.