The Evolution of Surgical Instruments

Book excerpt: Historians have examined the development of surgical techniques and of the surgical profession itself, but have paid scant attention to the tools that made surgery. Surgeon and historian Kirkup (honorary curator, Royal College of Surgeons, UK) demonstrates how surgical instruments as sophisticated as ultrasound or lasers began as teeth, mouth, fists, fingernails, and fingers. Far from being a compendium drawn from instrument catalogs, this volume is a masterpiece of scholarship. The instruments are situated in the surgical theory and practice of their times. Kirkup's skill and devotion in his presentation and description raise the work from a register to a natural history of the instruments. (The only caveat is that some pictures are not for the squeamish.) An extensive bibliography and an excellent index add to the book's value.