Blood and Guts: A History Of Surgery showing on BBC 4 : DigiGuide Forums

Blood and Guts: A History Of Surgery showing on BBC 4 : DigiGuide Forums: "Blood And Guts: A History Of Surgery explores how brilliant surgical breakthroughs, sometimes humorous, often tragic, shaped the evolution of modern medicine. Presented by Michael Mosley, the series brings the past to life through demonstrations, interviews and challenging experiments. Each week, Mosley tackles a different branch of surgery to reveal how it developed.

In the first episode, Mosley investigates the story of brain surgery - the most complex organ. A century ago, cutting into the brain was a terrifying prospect for both patient and surgeon. Harvey Cushing, the so-called 'father of neurosurgery', revolutionised brain surgery. Before him, it was little more than bloody butchery which killed around 70 per cent of patients. Michael travels to Yale University to see Cushing's archive: a collection of more than 1,000 perfectly preserved human brains."