THE CENTURY OF THE SURGEON

This weighty book by a German journalist who has studied medicine and history tells the story of 19th century surgeons and surgery, including that of the discovery of modern methods of anaesthesia- and the sinister part played by dirty hands in the incredible mortality rate that once followed minor operations and illnesses. It also contains sketches of outstanding surgeons, physicians and scientists of the century with accounts of the care-or lack of care- of the sick before the advances made by modern bacteriology. The book suffers from a somewhat ponderous style and far more from the method of presentation, as the story is told through the eyes of a fictitious and humorless character, ""Hartmann"", who sees for himself and reports on the evolution of 19th century surgery from 1846 to 1902. The factual material, however is good and extensively documented and illustrated- and along with the bibliography the book will interest and inform the more concerned layman or student.