BookBrowse Reviews Gray Matters by Theodore H. Schwartz

Dr. Theodore H. Schwartz's debut book, Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery, takes readers deep inside the world of neurosurgery. "On these pages," Schwartz writes, "I want to tell the story of neurosurgery from its primitive beginnings…to its current state as a computer-based discipline of meticulous precision." In addition to the history of the science, he examines cases of famous and not-so-famous individuals, exploring them in forensic detail and revealing little-publicized secrets about their treatments. He also addresses the philosophical implications of brain surgery, and closes with a discussion of new technologies, some of which may one day be implanted in the human brain.

That may sound like a lot to cram into a single volume—and it actually is quite a lot to take in—but Schwartz covers all that ground with aplomb. His book is readable and informative...