Written by a world-renowned historian of surgery, this volume is a masterful textual and pictorial history of the evolution of American surgery. Dr. Rutkow draws on his experience as a surgeon and a historian to provide an enlightening account of the development of surgery in the context of American social, economic, and political history. He also chronicles the complete histories of the surgical specialties. Interspersed with the narrative is an extraordinary collection of archival photographs and drawings, many of which have never before been published. More than 1,000 biographies of pioneering surgeons are deftly woven into the narrative.

Written in a lively and engaging style, this book provides a fascinating introduction to the development of surgery through the ages. Heavily illustrated in colour, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Surgery is the only serious choice for a reader wanting a lively and informative single-volume introduction to surgical history.

The book covers the span of years from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt to the appearance of the surgical specialities in the first half of the 20th century.

Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider’s The Invention of Surgery is an in-depth biography of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing developments of anesthesia and antiseptic operating rooms to the “implant revolution” of the twentieth century.The Invention of Surgery is history of surgery that explains this dramatic, world-changing progress and highlights the personalities of the discipline's most dynamic historical figures. It links together the lives of the pioneering scientists who first understood what causes disease and how surgery could powerfully intercede in people’s lives, and then shows how the rise of surgery intersected with many of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the last century. And as Schneider argues, surgery has not finished transforming; new technologies are constantly reinventing both the practice of surgery and the nature of the objects we are permanently implanting in our bodies. Schneider considers these latest developments, asking “What’s next?” and analyzing how our conception of surgery has changed alongside our evolving ideas of medicine, technology, and our bodies.

Presents the leading personalities in the surgical field. Provides a biographical sketch of each of the surgeons, their contributions to surgery, and extracts of their writings. Covers the history of surgery from the time of the ancient Egyptians, to ancient China, India and Japan, to the Arabian peninsula, the Greeks, the Romans, the Middle ages, the 16th and 17th centuries, the 18th century and Lord Lister's contribution to antiseptic surgery and then the 20th century. The last period covers some major subdivisions of surgery such as hernia repair, abdominal surgery, surgery of the endocrine system, neurosurgery and thoracic surgery.

Once upon a time, specifically ranging from 1866 until the end of the 1950s, almost all of the attending staff at Cook County Hospital (CCH)-and thus the instructors who prepared physicians for their roles in the world-were unpaid volunteers. In all large public teaching hospitals, like CCH, appointment to the staff was both an honor and public recognition of the appointee's status, his or her reputation among his or her peers. Prior to the advent of all-fulltime salaried positions in the 1970s and 1980s, nearly all of the attending staff were non-paid volunteers. Consequently, for all of CCH history up to that point, the list of surgical faculty is a virtual "Who's Who" of Chicago surgeons. This book examines the development of the medical disciplines that historically fell under the aegis of the department of surgery at CCH and other similar institutions. The individuals who taught successive new generations of surgeons were not necessarily famed in their time. Already respected, however, they gained legendary status as their former students realized just how effectively these men had taught them. From relevant anecdotes about individual interactions with these instructors to a collection of "quotable quotes" and historical vignettes and personal experiences from physicians and nurses, this books looks at a unique time and collection of individuals who conspired to achieve something remarkable. It is more than a history of a building on Chicago's west side-it is an inside look at the people who made Cook County Hospital a center of top-flight medical education and world-class care through the years.