On their shoulders we stand!

Ladies and gentlemen, today as we begin the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, I am truly excited by the fact that we are well beyond our 5year survival, and it is my hope that, as we increase in importance, this Society will be truly representative of our subspecialty. I do not have the vision to look into the future with prophesy and prediction: I do not wish to comment on the present since that will be done for us during the scientific sessions this week: but I do wish to report on the past in this presidential address, since the past has its effect on the present as well as on the future, and since I believe that there is a time for science, a time for art, and a time for heritage. Didacus Stella, around 65 A.D., said, “A dwarf standing on the shoulders of the giant may see farther than the giant himself.” I repeat, “A dwarf standing on the shoulders of the giant may see farther than the giant himself.” On their shoulders we stand! I shall report on five of these giants. Frederick Schauta was born 128 years ago on July 1.5, 1849, in Vienna, Austria [Il. He was educated at the University of Vienna and quickly climbed the academic ladder. In 1887, he was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department at the University of Prague and, in 1891, he ascended to the Chair at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. The great master (as he was referred to) was an excellent teacher, a disciplined scientist, and a diligent surgeon. Historically speaking, prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century, paste and cautery were used almost exclusively in the attempted treatment of invasive carcinoma of the cervix. It has been recorded that the first surgical attacks on cervical cancer were carried out by Osiander, in 1801, who performed a cervical amputation and by Langenbeck, in 1813, who actually did the first vaginal hysterectomy for this disease. On August 12, 1878, in Heidelberg, Germany, Czerny performed what is reported to be the first successful vaginal hysterectomy for a cancerous growth. Further advances in operative technique, anesthesia, and asepsis led to the