HARVEY CUSHING: Surgeon, Author, Artist

Volume 13 in The Life of Science Library, this is a careful, authoritative but still highly readable biography of an olympian figure whose life was one of sustained success, as a surgeon, teacher, author. Following his undergraduate years at Yale, his medical training at Harvard, Cushing went to Johns Hopkins as a resident surgeon under Halsted, was the special protege of Osler. Specializing in neurosurgery at a time when its mortality incidence was hopelessly high, Cushing made a wide contribution in his experiments and conclusions in this field. Delaying his marriage during the early years he devoted himself exclusively, tirelessly to his work; the marriage which followed was a happy one though he remained a rather remote figure to his several children. His many articles and lectures were capped by his one great book, the Pulitzer prize winning Life of Sir William Osler, Driving, demanding, often harsh towards his students, his subordinates, but devoted to the patients he treated, Cushing's last years brought a relaxation of all pressures, an increased interest in family affairs, and a gentle tapering off of a lifetime of great accomplishment.