Three Heroes Who Overthrew the Communism in Europe

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Ronald Reagan (1987) This is how most people in this country see the fall of communism in Europe and the person who made it happened. Let me tell you another side of this story. In 1945, after victory over Hitler’s Germany and with the full approval of our allies, […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon, cont.

It is sometimes asserted, that a surgical operation is or should be a work of art… fit to rank with those of the painter or a sculptor. .That proposition does not admit to discussion. It is a product of the intellectual innocence which I think we surgeons may fairly claim to possess, and which is […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon

It is necessary that a surgeon should have a temperate and moderate disposition. That he should have well-formed hands, long slender fingers, a strong body, not inclined to tremble and with all his members trained to the capable fulfillment of the wishes of his mind. He should be of deep intelligence and of a simple, […]
The Age of Highest Achievements

It is fair to say, that coming to my age, most of the people look back and contemplate what was the highest achievement of their life, what was they being most proud of. Was it a professional career? Family live? Athletic accomplishments? Maybe a significant discovery? Or social connections? And was it a one-time event […]
So, Is Surgery an Art or a Science?

The practice of medicine is a thinker’s art, the practice of surgery is a plumber’s. Martin H. Fischer, obviously a medical doctor This was a picture I grew up with in my Medical School. I saw medical specialists as a group of intellectuals discussing patient’s problems in the doctor’s lounge, and surgeons talking in the […]
Polish mathematicians on the forefront of fight with Germany

The universe is made up from stories, not atoms. Muriel Rukeyser Europe in the 1930s saw general tensions growing as a result of WW I and German unhappiness with the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans were arming themselves and obviously getting ready to change the balance of power. Secrecy of military communications was of utmost […]
Abraham Lincoln and Tsar Alexander ; Twin Brothers of Different Mothers

All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come Victor Hugo While reading “Anna Karenina” I came across a very interesting subject being discussed: the problem of serfdom. Konstantin Levin, 32 years old landowner, wants to increase productivity on his farmland. Sees how peasants are not motivated […]
Divide and Conquer, Still the Way to Govern

When I came to this country in 1975 United States of America was …one Nation, under God, indivisible… Now we have democrats vs republicans, women vs men, immigrants vs the rest of the country, unions, Congress vs Senate vs The President, Tea Party, Occupy movement, older generation vs younger generation, haves vs haves not. Everyone […]
Why the Nobel Prize in literature should not be awarded

The Nobel Prizes in literature have been awarded to Polish writers many times. 1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz 1924 Władysław Stanisław Reymont 1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer (born in Poland, wrote of Polish – Jewish cultural tradition, in Yiddish) 1980 Czesław Miłosz 1996 Wisława Szymborska. Therefore I should be, and I am, appreciative of […]