NEUROLOGIST, PIONEER OF CRYOSURGICAL TECHNIQUES

A Remarkable Man and a Great Brain Surgeon.

Praised by British writer and scientist C. P. Snow as "one of the most remarkable men alive" and "professionally one of the great brain surgeons of the world," during the 1960s Dr. Irving S. Cooper built on his already-impressive reputation from the early 1950s in treating victims of Parkinson's disease by expanding his procedures to a new field: cryosurgery. His advances led to international acclaim and to no small amount of professional jealousy and personal attacks.

Education and Early Career.

Cooper earned his M.D. at George Washington University and his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, then worked as a fellow at the Mayo Clinic (1948-1951) before joining the faculty at New York University Medical School and the surgical staff at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. Brilliant and compassionate, as a surgeon...