Author Guide · Popular Science & Medicine
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Theodore H. Schwartz has spent nearly thirty years operating on brains, and has published more than 500 scientific articles and chapters on it. He studied philosophy and English at Harvard before medicine, trained in neurosurgery at Columbia, and spent most of his career at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, where he helped develop minimally invasive ways to reach tumours through the nose rather than by opening the skull. He is now a professor of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai. In 2024 he published his first book for general readers, a history of brain surgery told through his own cases. This guide covers his one book: what it is about and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 1 key books · 2024–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Theodore H. Schwartz has written one book for general readers: Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery (Dutton, 2024), named an Economist Best Book of 2024. Start there. His other books are medical textbooks he co-edited for surgeons. Gray Matters mixes the history of neurosurgery with what the operations are like from the surgeon’s side of the table.
Where to Start with Theodore H. Schwartz
If you want the history of brain surgery
→ Gray Matters (2024) — from Harvey Cushing and the lobotomy era to radiosurgery.
If you want to know what a neurosurgeon actually does
→ Gray Matters (2024) — the chapters built on his own cases and decisions.
If you want the brain in the news
→ Gray Matters (2024) — the JFK assassination, President Biden’s brain surgery and CTE in the NFL.
The Book by Theodore H. Schwartz
Gray Matters
Published by Dutton in August 2024, this 512-page book alternates between the history of neurosurgery and what operating is like for the surgeon. It traces the field to Harvey Cushing’s operations in the early twentieth century, describes the blind cuts of early lobotomies, and explains tumour removal, gunshot wounds, blood clots, stereotactic radiosurgery and the surgery used on the actor Michael J. Fox for Parkinson’s disease, using Schwartz’s own patients alongside media, sports and government archives. It also takes on public cases, including the JFK assassination, President Biden’s brain surgery and CTE in the NFL, and ends with brain–computer interfaces and questions about the self and free will. It received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus and was named an Economist Best Book of 2024.
How to Read Theodore H. Schwartz
There is only one book for general readers, so there is no order to choose. Read Gray Matters from the start: the early chapters set out the history and basic techniques that the later chapters on his own cases, on famous patients and on the future of the field build on.
His other books are surgical textbooks, written with colleagues for neurosurgeons and ear, nose and throat surgeons. They are not meant for general readers. If you want more of his voice after the book, his 2024 conversation with Sanjay Gupta at 92NY and his 2025 episode of Conversations with Tyler cover the same ground.
A reading path
1. Gray Matters: the history chapters, from Cushing to the lobotomy
2. The chapters on tumours, trauma and his own operating-room decisions
3. The closing chapters on brain–computer interfaces, the self and free will
Everything Else Theodore H. Schwartz Published
Beyond the 1 key books: 3 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Medical textbooks (co-edited)
3
3 books · 2007–2014
- 2007Practical Endoscopic Skull Base Surgerywith Vijay K. Anand
- 2011Endoscopic Pituitary Surgery: Endocrine, Neuro-Ophthalmologic and Surgical Managementwith Vijay K. Anand
- 2014Neurovascular Coupling Methodswith Mingrui Zhao and Hongtao Ma
The years · 1965–2024
Quick facts about Theodore H. Schwartz
- Known for
- Schwartz is known as a New York neurosurgeon who helped develop minimally invasive, endoscopic surgery for brain, pituitary and skull-base tumours, and for explaining the field to general readers.
- 1965
- Born in New York City
- 1987
- BA in philosophy and English, Harvard
- 2007
- First co-edited surgical textbook
- 2024
- Gray Matters
- Born
- 13 May 1965, New York City
- Education
- Harvard University, BA in philosophy and English (1987); Harvard Medical School
- Training
- Neurosurgery residency at the Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia; fellowship at Yale-New Haven
- Career
- Most of his career at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, from 2014 as David and Ursel Barnes Professor of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery; now professor of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai
- Research
- More than 500 scientific articles and chapters; led an epilepsy research laboratory
- Book honours
- Gray Matters: Economist Best Book of 2024
The red mark is 2024: Gray Matters, his first book for general readers.
How Theodore H. Schwartz Writes: The Surgeon as Historian
Gray Matters moves back and forth between two kinds of chapter. One tells the history of the field, from Harvey Cushing’s operations at the start of the twentieth century to stereotactic radiosurgery; the other puts the reader next to Schwartz in the operating room, explaining how a tumour is reached and what can go wrong. Publishers Weekly described it as alternating between the history of brain surgery and what the procedure is like for the surgeon.
He writes openly about the decisions and the cost of them: how aggressively to remove a tumour lying near the nerves for sight, hearing or swallowing, and how it feels when an operation fails. He has said that operating became for him “the ultimate in mindful meditation”, and he has spoken about his father’s stroke during his residency and his death a few weeks after surgery.
His training in philosophy shows in the last part of the book. He takes the position that the mind is what the brain does, not a separate substance, and uses brain–computer interfaces to ask what that means for the self and for free will. For other doctors who write about their work this way, see the guides to Henry Marsh, Paul Kalanithi and Oliver Sacks below.
Watch
Theodore Schwartz and Sanjay Gupta on Gray Matters
At 92NY in September 2024, Schwartz talks with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the stakes of brain surgery, how surgeons decide for their patients and where the field is heading.
Frequently asked questions about Theodore H. Schwartz’s books
How many books has Theodore H. Schwartz written?
One for general readers: Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery (2024). He has also co-edited surgical textbooks, including Practical Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery (2007), Endoscopic Pituitary Surgery (2011) and Neurovascular Coupling Methods (2014), and published more than 500 scientific articles and chapters.
How many books has Theodore H. Schwartz written?
For general readers there is only Gray Matters (2024). His co-edited textbooks are Practical Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery (2007), Endoscopic Pituitary Surgery (2011) and Neurovascular Coupling Methods (2014).
Where should I start with Theodore H. Schwartz?
With Gray Matters, his only book written for general readers. The textbooks are written for surgeons.
What is Theodore H. Schwartz’s most famous book?
Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery, published by Dutton in August 2024. It was named an Economist Best Book of 2024 and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus.
What is Gray Matters about?
It is a history and insider account of brain surgery, combining Schwartz’s own cases with the history of the field: Harvey Cushing, the lobotomy era, tumour and trauma surgery and radiosurgery. It also covers the JFK assassination, President Biden’s brain surgery and CTE in the NFL, and ends with brain–computer interfaces and questions about consciousness and free will.
Is Theodore H. Schwartz still a practising neurosurgeon?
Yes. After most of his career at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, where he held the David and Ursel Barnes Professorship of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, he is now a professor of neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, specialising in minimally invasive surgery for brain, pituitary and skull-base tumours. He has also founded a company, Illumination Diagnostics.
Is there an audiobook of Gray Matters?
Yes. The unabridged audiobook runs 16 hours and 32 minutes and is read by Sean Pratt.
Where can I hear Theodore H. Schwartz talk about Gray Matters?
He discussed the book with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air in August 2024, with Sanjay Gupta at 92NY in September 2024 (the video on this page), and with Tyler Cowen on Conversations with Tyler in 2025.
Who has endorsed Gray Matters?
The publisher lists endorsements from Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and author Henry Marsh, the psychiatrist Anna Lembke and Ben Carson, among others.
Footnotes
- Theodore H. Schwartz — Wikipedia
- Gray Matters — Penguin Random House
- Gray Matters — Publishers Weekly review
- For this brain surgeon, the operating room is the ultimate in mindful meditation — NPR Fresh Air via KPBS, 2024
- Dr. Theodore Schwartz in Conversation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta — 92NY
- Theodore Schwartz, MD — Mount Sinai
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Everything that we are as human beings is in our brain.”
— Theodore H. Schwartz, on NPR’s Fresh Air (2024)
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