It is a great pleasure and honor to be asked to participate in the translation of this important and historical volume on thoracic surgery and to provide this foreword. Martin Kirschner of Mannheim/Heidelberg was an early pioneer in thoracic and esophageal surgery. His operation for bypass of the esophagus using the entire stomach remains a standard of the surgical armamentarium to this date. The original Kirschner Textbook of Surgery was a standard in its day. We are fortunate that Professors H. Pichlmaier and F.W. Schildberg and other colleagues have provided us with this important modern successor of a classic textbook. The reader is rewarded by an extensive treatise which includes not only the most up to date techniques in pulmonary, esophageal, mediastinal, and chest wall (including breast) surgery but also provides an excellent perspective on the techniques used by pioneers in the field. Although some of these early techniques are not commonly used today, knowledge of their use and application broadens the capability of the thoracic surgeon. Changing times bring renewed problems with infectious diseases. Knowledge of the management of the pleural space and pulmonary infectious problems is a critical part of the education of the thoracic surgeon.
