Why history is important for thoracic surgeons

There are numerous examples of lessons to be learned from acquaintance with surgical history. Notwithstanding these considerations--the admonition to read and think about history, the lessons learned from technical misadventures, and the need to add humanistic practices to our scientific endeavors--the real reward from our study of medical history lies in the pure job of being educated in one more way. This implies understanding our contemporary position in the unrolling course of medical history: from remote history through the enlightenment after the reawakening from the dark ages, to the surgical spurt in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and onward through the dramatic advances of our passing millennium.