The Evolution of Surgery: From Primitive Practices to Modern Innovations

The term "surgery" finds its roots in the Greek words cheiros (hand) and ergon (work), aptly encapsulating the manual manipulations performed by surgical practitioners to alleviate injuries and diseases. The history of surgery is as ancient as humanity itself, with evidence suggesting that our ancestors possessed a natural inclination to treat physical ailments, driven by the universal instinct for self-preservation.

Since the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 300,000 years ago, individuals with a particular aptitude for healing have likely existed. This is not surprising, given that self-preservation is a fundamental instinct shared by all mammals. For instance, a wounded dog instinctively licks its wounds, limps on three legs if injured, seeks shelter when ill, and even consumes specific grasses or herbs to induce vomiting when feeling unwell. Similarly, early humans would have sought to heal themselves and others, developing rudimentary methods to treat injuries and diseases.

Palaeopathologists, scientists who study ancient diseases through skeletal remains, have uncovered abundant evidence that our prehistoric ancestors were plagued by various ailments. Excavations of ancient skeletons reveal fractures, bone diseases, and dental decay, indicating that even in the earliest human societies, injuries and illnesses were common. Notably, evidence of bone tumors has been found in the fossilized remains of dinosaurs, such as a bony tumor on the tail vertebrae of a dinosaur that lived millions of years ago in what is now Wyoming.

Injuries inflicted by falls, crushing incidents, wild animals, and human conflicts necessitated treatment. Among primitive tribes, open wounds were typically covered with dressings made from natural materials such as leaves, plants, cobwebs, ashes, natural balsams, or even cow dung. The use of cow dung as a dressing for the umbilical cord was still practiced in some West African villages in recent times, leading to cases of neonatal tetanus due to the presence of tetanus spores in feces.

Remarkably, primitive surgical techniques often displayed a high degree of ingenuity. Among the Masai of East Africa, deep wounds were stitched together using acacia thorns, which were plaited against each other with plant fiber to hold the edges of the cut together. In both India and South America, insects such as termites or beetles were used to bite across the edges of a wound, with the insect's body twisted off, leaving the jaws to hold the wound closed. This method bears a striking resemblance to the metal skin clips used in modern surgical procedures. Splints made of bark or soft clay were also employed to immobilize fractured limbs, and similar splints have been discovered in ancient Egyptian burial sites.

Beyond treating wounds and fractures, early surgeons performed three main types of operative procedures: cutting for bladder stones, circumcision, and trephination of the skull. Trephination, the practice of drilling or scraping a hole into the skull, was believed to release evil spirits or relieve pressure from head injuries. Evidence of trephination has been found in ancient cultures worldwide, from Europe to South America, indicating that early surgeons possessed a deep understanding of the human body and its ailments.

In conclusion, the history of surgery is a testament to the ingenuity and adaptability of the human spirit. From the use of primitive tools and natural materials to the development of sophisticated surgical techniques, the evolution of surgery reflects humanity's enduring quest to heal and preserve life. Today, modern surgery continues to build on this ancient legacy, employing advanced technology and medical knowledge to save lives and alleviate suffering.
The Evolution of Surgery: From Primitive Practices to Modern Innovations

Cereal Evolution

Breakfast cereals have played a pivotal role in American history, especially during critical periods like the Civil War. The emergence of the health food movement in the 19th century further underscored the significance of these morning meals. Over time, breakfast cereals have evolved from simple, utilitarian provisions to beloved staples in households across the nation.

During the American Civil War, hot breakfast cereals served as vital sustenance for Union soldiers. Amidst the scarcity of resources, soldiers relied on makeshift meals like "bully soup" or panada, made from whatever ingredients were available. These hearty meals not only provided nourishment but also boosted morale during long marches and supply disruptions, highlighting the crucial role of breakfast in maintaining the health and spirits of troops.

The 19th century witnessed the rise of the health food movement, heavily influenced by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church's advocacy for a vegetarian lifestyle. Concerns regarding dietary fiber deficiency and digestive disorders spurred interest in wholesome, plant-based diets. Institutions like the Battle Creek Sanitarium became hubs of experimentation, where figures like Dr. John Harvey Kellogg explored the potential of cereals in promoting health and wellness.

The roots of cereal breakfasts can be traced back to the 1830s when health foods gained traction among health-conscious individuals. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's experiments at the Battle Creek Sanitarium laid the groundwork for the modern cereal industry. Concurrently, Dr. James C. Jackson introduced precooked cereal, laying the foundation for subsequent innovations in cereal production.

The commercialization of breakfast cereals took off with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's introduction of corn flakes in 1902. Kellogg, along with competitors like Post, employed innovative marketing strategies to popularize their products. Over time, cereals underwent transformations, with the addition of sugar and the targeting of children through colorful packaging and mascots.

In response to criticism of their nutritive value, breakfast cereals have been fortified with essential nutrients. Despite this, per capita consumption trends have fluctuated throughout the 20th century, reflecting shifts in consumer preferences towards convenience and flavor over perceived healthfulness. The industry faces ongoing challenges in adapting to changing consumer demands while addressing concerns about nutritional content and sustainability.

From their humble origins to their modern-day ubiquity, breakfast cereals have left an indelible mark on American history and culture. Their evolution reflects broader societal shifts in attitudes towards health, convenience, and taste. As the cereal industry continues to evolve, it must navigate the delicate balance between tradition and innovation to meet the changing needs of consumers while preserving its rich heritage.
Cereal Evolution

Origin and evolution of Mammals

Early mammals evolved from reptiles some 200 million years ago. The history of mammalian origins is a complex story that is only slowly unfolding. The Permo-Triassic mammal-like reptile faunas of southern Africa, and the Jurassic mammalian faunas of Europe and North America, both discovered in the last century, have been central to the development of theories on the reptile-mammal transition.

There are enough evidences from extinct reptiles and mammals for this universally accepted view that mammalians had a reptilian ancestry. Feathers and hair evolved from reptilian scales and all three contain keratin.

For one thing, reptiles are cold blooded, which means that their body temperatures changes with the temperature around them.

In many cases this means that during the winter reptiles remain dormant because their body temperature is reduced to a point that precludes much activity. But even in warmer climates most reptiles must feed during the daylight hours, when it is warmer, and are less active during the night, when the temperature drops.

In contrast to reptiles, early mammals had the advantage of being warm-blooded. Because they have a constant body temperature regardless of their environment, mammals can compete with reptiles by remaining active throughout the night and throughout the year.

There are several special features that are linked to warm-bloodedness. One is the bones inside the nose and snout, called the turbinates. These bones increase the distance that air travels into the body, allowing it to warm up on the way in. There is also the bony palate which separates the mouth from the nose and allows for continuous breathing, even while eating.
Origin and evolution of Mammals

The first mammals

The Permo-Triasic mammal-like reptile faunas of southern Africa, and the Jurassic mammalian faunas of Europe and North America, both discovered in the last century, have been central to the development of theories on the reptile-mammal transition.

In the more than 500 million year long history of vertebrates, mammals do not appear until quite late, some 225 million years ago.

The first mammals had come into a world dominated by reptiles.  For one thing, reptiles are cold blooded, which means that their body temperatures changes with the temperature around them.

In contrast to reptiles, early mammals had the advantage of being warm-blooded. Because they have a constant body temperature regardless of their environment, mammals can compete with reptiles by remaining active throughout the night and throughout the year.

In early Triassic times, when Thrinaxodon was evolving in the direction of mammals, a new group of reptiles appeared on the scene; it was the dinosaurs or ‘ruling reptiles’ that came to dominate the animal world.

By late Triassic times, when the first mammals like Megazostrodon were scuttling around the undergrowth, large dinosaurs, such as Massospondylus were common. For the next 70 million years dinosaurs of every shape and size, from creatures no bigger than a domestic cat to the largest land animals the world has ever seen, took over the Earth.

Although the first Mezonoic mammal was discovered as early as 1764 in England, its significant was not understood until more than 100 years later, in 1871, when Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) published his great opus, the ‘Monograph of the Fossil Mammalia in the Mezonoic  Formations.’
The first mammals

The evolution of life on earth

The stage was set for earth’s birth much, much earlier, at the origin of all things – the Big Bang – about 13.7 billion years ago.

Modern scientists estimate that the earth is 5 to 6 billion years old. By comparison, most of the evolution of human like creatures has taken place in a very short time – the first mammals began to evolve from reptiles perhaps 200 million years ago, and the first placental mammals (i.e., that give birth to live young.

The earth as it may have appeared early in its history after the initial crust had started to form. Prior to about 4.6 billion years ago the proto-earth formed from the coalescence of variously sized ‘planetesimals’ or small bodies of rock and frozen gases that condensed in the plane of the ecliptic, the flat regions of space in which human planets orbit.

Rabbits, cacti, bumblebees, jellyfish, penguins, sunflowers – all living things on the earth are the descendents of simple, single-celled organisms that loved more than 3.5 billion years ago.

The claim based on fossils, not just chemical signals. Filamentous forms in agate-like rock dated to be around 3.5 billions years in age were discovered by American paleontologist William Schopf.

The first human like animals appeared some 3 million years ago, around the beginning of the epoch known as the Pleistocene. This was the time of the great ice ages, when drastic changes in climate affected life throughout the world.

This climate change may account for more rapid evolution that produced modern human beings in such a short period; that is the pace of natural selection may have been quickened because of environmental changes and the resulting pressures on our ancestors.
The evolution of life on earth

History of rocket science

In 1232, during the war of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled the Mongol invaders by a barrage of "arrows of flying fire." These fire-arrows were a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket. A tube, capped at one end, was filled with gunpowder. The other end was left open and the tube was attached to a long stick. When the powder was ignited, the rapid burning of the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas that escaped out the open end and produced a thrust.

Then, the Mongols produced rockets of their own and may have been responsible for the spread of rockets to Europe. The rocket seems to have arrived in Europe around 1241 A.D. Contemporary accounts describe rocket-like weapons being used by the Mongols against Magyar forces at the battle of Sejo which preceded their capture of Buda (now known as Budapest) Dec. 25, 1241.

According to history Mongols invaded Baghdad on February 15, 1258 also used the rocket like weapon.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Sir Isaac Newton laid the understanding of physical notion of rocket science on the 17th century. He organized his findings into scientific laws.

In 1720, Willem Gravesande, a Dutch professor, built model cars propelled by jets of stream.  

Rockets were used by the British Navy to bombard Fort McHenry in 1814, inspiring the National Anthem of the United States.

In 1898, a Siberian schoolteacher and scientist, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) provided the scientific basis for modern rocketry. He proposed the idea of space exploration. Tsiolkovsky suggested the use of liquid propellants for rockets in order to achieve greater range. Tsiolkovsky stated that the speed and range of a rocket were limited only by the exhaust velocity of escaping gases.

He contributed concept of multi-stage rockets and Rocket Momentum Equation. His work inspired many early rocket pioneers, and started the ball rolling toward turning rocketry into both a science and a practical engineering effort.

American scientist, Robert H. Goddard conducted experiments in rocket science in the early 20th century and became interested in a way of achieving higher altitudes.

Robert Goddard conducted theoretical and experimental research on rocket motors using a steel motor with a tapered nozzle and achieved greatly improved thrust and efficiency for the rockets of his times. Sputnik I was the first satellite successful entry in a race for space between the two superpower Russian and United States.

United States launched its first satellite Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In October of that year, the United States formally organized its space program by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
History of rocket science 

Biography of Herbert Spencer

Even though August Comte coined the term sociology, British social theorist Herbert Spencer was the first to write a comprehensive text on the subject.

Herbert Spencer was born in Derby, England on April 27, 1820. He was the first of seven children of William George Spencer and Harriet Homes Spencer, and the only one to survive infancy.

His father was a teacher and school master who has inherited a school from his father, Matthew Spencer.

The education that Spencer received from his father placed a heavy emphasis on empirical science.

This was reinforced by his experience of roaming the countryside where he collected specimens, acquired a tolerable knowledge of animal and insect life and taught himself how to sketch from nature.

When Herbert Spencer was seventeen one of his uncles secured a job for him as a civil engineer with a railway company in London.

Technical education and experience led him to see himself as a philosopher. His books sold more than 100,000 copies, even after most of them had been issued in serial form a various journal-like publications.

Herbert Spencer coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" in 1852. The concept of the survival of the fittest was later adopted by Darwin.

Survival of the fittest, meaning not the strongest but those best suited to a particular environment. This leads to the third point in Darwin’s scheme.

Spencer argued that the development of all aspects of the universe is evolutionary, including human character and social institutions, in according with principle of ‘survival of the fittest’

Among his books include:
*Social statistics (1850)
*The Principles of Psychology (1855)
*Essays 1858 -1874 (3 volumes)
*Education: Intellectual, Moral, Physical (1861)
*First Principles (1862)
*The Principles of Biology 1864-1867 (2 volumes)

He died on 8 December 1903.
Biography of Herbert Spencer 

American paleontologist, Simpson, George Gaylord (1902 – 1984)

Simpson, George Gaylord is United States paleontologist, whose work did much to shape the postwar development of paleontology and its impact on evolutionary.

Simpson, born the son of lawyer on Chicago, Illinois, was educated at the University of Colorado and at Yale where he obtained his PhD in 1926, with a thesis on fossil mammals of the Mesozoic era.

The following year he joined the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

After the war, he was appointed professor of vertebra paleontology at Columbia University (1945 – 1959), during which time he contributed to the debate on the nature evolution, particularly in his books Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944) and The Major Features of Evolution (1953).

Simpson worked extensively on the taxonomy and paleontology of mammals his main contribution was his elucidation of the history of the early mammals in the late Mesozoic and the Paleocene and Eocene.

He also contributed to evolutionary theory with important books, such as The Meaning of Evolution (1949), The Major Features of Evolution (1953), This View of Life (1954) and others.

In 1959 Simpson was appointed Alexander Agassiz Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, a post he retained until his retirement 1970.

He was also professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona (1967 – 1982).
American paleontologist, Simpson, George Gaylord (1902 – 1984)

Darwin and his Theory

Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809, the fifth of six children. His grandfather Erasmus Darwin was a physician and poet with fascinating for natural philosophy. The poet known depictions of the natural world and the speculation about the nature and origin of life.

In his 1794 book Zoonomia Erasmus discussed the origin of development of life. Charles father Robert Waring Darwin was a successful and wealthy physician.

Darwin attended Shrewsbury school from 1818 to 1825 with hoped to become a doctor. Later in 1825 his father took him away from school and sent him and his brother to Edinburgh Medical School.

The theory of evolution is commonly linked with Charles Darwin’s publication of The Origin of Species’ in 1859. Many of his idea that Darwin put forth in his book had been discussed for at least a century.

The Origin of Species contributed to the theory was a clear statement of the process by which evolution occurs, which was called natural selection.

In 1831 Darwin set out on a round the world voyage on the ship H.M.S Beagle, serving as the ship’s naturalist. During this voyage Darwin began to accumulate data that resulted in his concept of evolution.

The Voyage of the Beagle is a title given to the book written and published in 1839 by Darwin as his Journal and Remarks, which brought him considerable fame and respect.

From his study of the similarities among existing species around the world, together with the similarities between living and fossil species, he gradually came to the conclusion that some species were related to one another through common lines of descent, a view that clearly challenged the biblical notion of a single Creation of all the various life forms in the world.

He proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection.

The term Darwinism almost by default, covered all kinds of evolutionism and unfairly eclipsed the world of others like Huxley, Wallace.

Darwin and his Theory