Surgery, Science and Industry: A Revolution in Fracture Care, 1950s-1990s

Science, Technology and Medicine in Modern History

by Thomas Schlich

This book charts the history of the worldwide introduction of an operative treatment method for broken bones, osteosynthesis, by a Swiss-based association, called AO. The success of the close cooperation between the AO's surgeons, scientists and manufacturers in establishing a complicated and risky technique as a standard treatment sheds light on the mechanisms of medical innovation at the crossroads of surgery, science and industry and the nature of modern medicine in general.

364 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2002