Editor’s note: The absence of a recognized formal curriculum in anesthesia history means that many of us have known and unknown gaps in our knowledge. These gaps limit our ability to understand how things came to be, how things may become and how we can affect the future. I have asked Dr. Manisha Desai and Dr. Sukumar Desai to provide a primer on the history of medicine and anesthesia history. The goals of this primer are to educate and to help individuals target future study. Below is the second article in a continuing series.