“Surgery is performed with the mind, with the soul and with the hands”. This is how Rafael Fernández-Samos describes his profession in the prologue of Momentos estelares en la Historia de la Cirugía Vascular y Endovascular, a book written by Francisco Santiago Lozano Sánchez, professor at our university, who has presented his book this week. I feel very fortunate to have been there.

It is one of those works gives greater value to the daily work carried out at the University of Salamanca. The Multipurpose Center of the Official College of Physicians of Salamanca and all the attendees witnessed this at the presentation.

The author reviews the history of Angiology and Vascular Surgery within the 23 chapters of the book; each one is dedicated to a remarkable surgery and recognizes the work of the surgeons who left behind an enormous legacy by contributing to the evolution of vascular surgery and, ultimately, to the evolution of humankind.

These miraculous operations are exciting to learn about, whether you are part of this guild or not. A compilation that has arisen from the author’s need for an alternative pastime during the pandemic. As Francisco explains in the preface, “The present scientific-historical book is the result of my need to keep my mind occupied”.

Thanks to Dr. Santiago Santa Cruz Ruiz and Professor Dr. Alberto Gómez Alonso for chairing the event and presenting the book. We thank you, Francisco, for sharing with us, the history of such an important practice and with it the knowledge derived from your experience as a surgeon, teacher and researcher.

Posted by Juan M. Corchado

Juan Manuel Corchado (15 May 1971, Salamanca, Spain) is Professor at the University of Salamanca. He has been Vice-Rector for Research from 2013 to 2017 and Director of the Science Park of the University of Salamanca. Elected as Dean of the Faculty of Science twice, he holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salamanca and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of the West of Scotland. He leads the renowned BISITE (Bioinformatics, Intelligent Systems and Educational Technology) Research Group, created in 2000. Director of the IoT Digital Innovation Hub and President of the AIR Institute, J. M. Corchado is also Visiting Professor at the Osaka Institute of Technology since January 2015, Visiting Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and Member of the Advisory Group on Online Terrorist Propaganda of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (EUROPOL). J. M. Corchado has been president of the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, and academic coordinator of the University Institute for Research in Art and Animation Technology at the University of Salamanca, as well as researcher at the Universities of Paisley (UK), Vigo (Spain) and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK). He currently combines all his activity with the direction of Master programmes in Security, Digital Animation, Mobile Telephony, Information Systems Management, Internet of Things, Social Media, 3D Design and Printing, Blockchain, Z System, Industry 4.0, Agile Project Management, and Smart Cities & Intelligent Buildings, at the University of Salamanca and his work as editor-in-chief of the journals ADCAIJ (Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal), OJCST (Oriental Journal of Computer Science and Technology) or Electronics MDPI (Computer Science & Engineering section). J. M. Corchado mainly works on projects related to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, Fog Computing, Edge Computing, Smart Cities, Smart Grids and Sentiment Analysis. He has recently been included in the board of trustees of the AstraZeneca Foundation, along with other health professionals and researchers recognised for bringing scientific knowledge closer to society.