The origins of modern orthopaedics.

The modern cult of "selfwareness", today so fashionable among young people, calls on past experiences to interpret modern attitudes and reactions; and gives a new credibility to the old Latin dictum "Historia, magistra vitae". It involves all aspects of human enterprise, not least the professional aspect, which undoubtedly gains by taking account of the contributions of previous generations. Orthopaedic surgery is no exception, and those of us who would aspire to a fuller understanding of our specialty will find benefit in retracting its history over at least the last 250 years. In taking such a backward glance, the writer tried to seek out those events and those men whose contributions have stood the test of time and earned them the recognition and prestige in which they are still held today.