The evolution of surgical instruments: an illustrated history from ancient times to the twentieth century

John Kirkup, MD, FRCS, is a distinguished orthopedic surgeon who has been president of the History Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. He has written a fascinating book on the evolution of a wide range of surgical instruments. The text is supplemented by illustrations from a number of different sources, including catalogs from instrument makers. If Kirkup thought that an appropriate illustration was not available from previous material, drawings were commissioned to illustrate "the finer material." In addition, a large number of drawings, portraits, and photographs of the men who described the instruments or developed and used them add a further dimension to the text. The history is interesting, but the basic contributions of this book to the subject of surgical instruments are a remarkable analysis of the evolution of the materials used to make the instruments and a classification of surgical instruments