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Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery, by Theodore H. Schwartz

An Economist Best Book of 2024

NEW RELEASE

Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery

Penguin Random House (August 2024)

“If you are at all curious about the brain or the surgeons who operate on it, Gray Matters is a must read and Dr. Theodore Schwartz is the perfect guide, a master brain surgeon and superbly talented writer. I have not read a better biography of our shared profession, and in Schwartz’s talented hands, the most enigmatic 3 1/2 pounds of tissue in the known universe comes to light in remarkable and revelatory ways.”

—Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

“The author is warm and insightful, making the book accessible to general readers as well as specialists. Mixing expertise with storytelling, Schwartz provides a remarkable account of a crucial but misunderstood field.”

—Kirkus (Starred Review)

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ABOUT

Theodore H. Schwartz, MD, previously held the David and Ursel Barnes Endowed Professorship of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, one of the busiest and highest-ranked neurosurgery centers in the world. He has published over five hundred scientific articles and over two hundred chapters on neurosurgery. He has lectured around the world—from Bogotá to Vienna to Mumbai—on new, minimally invasive surgical techniques that he helped develop, and has authored seven medical textbooks. He also ran a basic science laboratory devoted to epilepsy research. He studied philosophy and literature at Harvard.

INTERVIEW

NPR's Fresh Air: A brain surgeon opens up about life in the operating room

Aug. 5, 2024

RECENT EVENT

Dr. Theodore Schwartz and Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Gray Matters

Dr. Theodore Schwartz and Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Gray Matters

IN THE NEWS

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Why AI Will Never Replace Brain
Surgeons

Boston Globe

Artificial intelligence is making impressive advances in medicine. But there are things even the most adept robotic surgeon won't grasp.

Performing surgery is not a "House, M.D." quandary in which we sift through massive amounts of data stored in our memories to arrive at the best solution - the kind of thing computers do very well. It's not like playing chess, or Go, or even diagnosing cancer from a mammogram. When it comes to surgical interventions, figuring out what to do is only the first step. The real challenge is doing it.

WSJ Review: Gray Matters, A Brainy Vocation

The Wall Street Journal

Gray Matters is not simply a history of neurosurgery. Dr. Schwartz has written a book that is part memoir and part biography of his profession. Common problems, such as head trauma, gunshot wounds, brain tumors and strokes, are illustrated through the stories of real patients. Some cases are Dr. Schwartz’s own, tweaked to protect anonymity; others are of historical figures and celebrities. He covers huge amounts of territory, including the deplorable case of Eva Perón’s lobotomy, the brave new world of brain-computer interfaces, and the ominous implications of cutting-edge neuroscience for conventional notions of free will.

Book Excerpt: What It’s Like to Remove a Brain Tumor

The Wall Street Journal

Most of the ships in a bottle you see in souvenir shops are built first, before inserting them into the bottle. Imagine having to assemble the ship, piece by piece, by working through the neck of the bottle with the bottle intact. That’s what it’s like to perform neurosurgery, a life-and-death technical exercise in which the surgeon must exert his or her will on the external world, working at the bottom of a deep, narrow corridor with a margin of error measured in millimeters. The key to success relies not just upon a detailed understanding of the brain’s anatomy but also on careful preparation.

THEODORE H. SCHWARTZ

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