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The study of the history of medicine is an occupation both worthy and
rewarding. It helps honor those who have made truly memorable contributions
to the development of medicine. It demonstrates the interrelationship of
medicine and developments in the rest of society. To understand from whence
we came is to enrich our daily practice and help us avoid repeating today
the follies, foibles, and fads of the past. And, after all, the academic
and intellectual validity of any profession, anesthesiology included, can
be judged in no small part by the depth, quality, and quantity of the
literature it generates regarding its past history.
For these reasons, the Trustees of the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology,
an affiliate of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, voted, in 1993, to
create an international honorary post, the Wood Library-Museum Laureate of
the History of Anesthesia, to honor those making singular contributions to
our history and to increase interest in the study of our history. The award
is to be presented every 4 years, commencing in October 1996, a date that, by
no accident, also commemorates the sesquicentennial of the introduction of one
of mankind's most humane discoveries: production of painless surgery by
inhalation of diethyl ether. Eligible for the Laureate award are all physicians
and historians, regardless of nationality, who have made seminal contributions
to the history of anesthesia, as evidenced by publication of books, monographs,
or articles in peer-reviewed journals. Nominations for the award can be offered
by anyone and are solicited by mail sent throughout the world more than a year
in advance by an internationally constituted Wood Library-Museum Laureate
Committee. Details of the nomination process and how the Laureate Committee
elects the Laureate can be obtained by writing the Wood Library-Museum of
Anesthesiology*; the entire program is international in scope and design.
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