The early 17th century is considered the starting point of modern science, and this includes medicine. It was a time, especially on the European continent, of great upheaval and prolonged wars. Louis Bakay, a noted neurosurgeon, scholar, historian, and linguist uses the historical setting of the early 17th century to present the beginning of modern neurosurgery, particularly the treatment of craniocerebral trauma. The author points out that no man can be disassociated from his time and to recall the early 17th century he introduces us to three persons: artist Jacques Callot, one of the greatest etchers of all time (whose scenes of the Thirty Years' War are excellently reproduced throughout this book), Hans von Grimmelshausen and his famous novel Simplicissimus, and physiciansurgeon Johann Schultes, commonly called Joannis Sculteus, from Ulm in southern Germany.
Bakay translated the work of Sculteus, Armamentarium Chirurgicum as a basis of his book. Not only do