Victor Horsley
The World's First Neurosurgeon and His Conscience

A fascinating biography of the world's pioneer neurosurgeon, his influence on the discipline and the social issues he championed fiercely.

Michael J. Aminoff (Author)

9781316513088, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 January 2022

200 pages
26.1 x 18.5 x 1.8 cm, 0.6 kg

'This is a book that can be read as a history of medicine with surgical precision, but also as an enthralling narrative that could inspire and guide lives, particularly in a time of uncertainty like the present one.' Alain Touwaide, Doody's Reviews

Sir Victor Horsley (1857–1916) was a brilliant and pioneering neurosurgeon who also shaped the direction of clinical medicine through his work with the British Medical Association, Medical Defence Union, and General Medical Council. Before the nervous system could be imaged, Horsley operated successfully on the brain and spinal cord, and performed palliative procedures on patients dying from brain tumours. Nevertheless, he became a social pariah due to his support for nationalised health insurance, child welfare and women's rights, amongst other causes. In this fascinating biography, leading neurologist Dr Michael J. Aminoff places Horsley's life and work in the context of the society in which he lived and explores his influence on the development of neurosurgery and social policies still in effect. The many underlying themes to the book include the interplay of science and politics, and the responsibility of physicians to themselves and for the welfare of society.

Preface
1. Early days
2. The other side of Gower streets
3. At the Brown
4. Dividing the indivisible: The localization of cortical functions
5. The making of a specialty
6. The grammar of neurosurgery: technical underpinnings
7. The neurosurgery of specific disorders
8. Measures of the man
9. The politics of protection
10. Not so trivial pursuits: the slide into politics
11. Antivivisectionist claims and clamor
12. Bitter tears: Horsley and the suffragist movement
13. Last orders: the temperance movement
14. Syphilis and the public health
15. A surgeon goes to war
16. Aftermaths and appraisals
Appendix 1: Horsley's procedure for cranial surgery
Appendix 2: Appointments, honors, and awards
Appendix 3: Victor Horsley's professional publications
Appendix 4: Sir Victor Horsley's correspondence with the times of London.

Subject Areas: Neurosurgery [MNN], Neurology & clinical neurophysiology [MJN], Clinical & internal medicine [MJ], History of medicine [MBX], Biography: general [BG]