The twentieth century

Abstract

Centennial years were seldom real milestones in the history of medicine. The expiration of the nineteenth century, however, marked the conclusion of a most memorable period, characterized by the rise of scientific materialism, with internationally accepted methods of research and principles of judgements. In the field of oncology, of mammary carcinoma in particular, very important strides forward had been made with regard to the morphology of tumours. The very word ‘morphology’ dates, in fact, from the nineteenth century since it first appeared in print in 1800, having been coined by Goethe.²⁴² The golden harvest of the last few decades was embodied in a superb book with a companion microscopical atlas entitled Die Lehre von den Geschwülsten by Max Borst (1869–1946), who was assistant to the Department of Pathology of the University of Würzburg.²⁴³