The Surgeon's Unfailing Textbook

A young surgical resident once confessed to her attending physician that she felt overwhelmed — so many decisions, so many variables, so many lives depending on her judgment. The senior surgeon walked her to the shelf where a well-worn copy of Gray's Anatomy sat alongside the latest peer-reviewed operative manuals. "You don't need to guess," he told her. "Every structure, every vessel, every nerve — it's been mapped with precision.…