ABSTRACT
References 39
1. FINDING THE RIGHT THREAD IN THE CLOAK
A proper history of lasers in dermatologic surgery requires not just a chronological
recitation (1-3) of what we know as published fact by the sequential appearance of
peer-reviewed and dated articles and Congress presentations but also an attempt to find
the thread of true progress weaving through the fabric of the “cloak of magical claims.”
The use of light and its many colors, both visible and invisible, for the treatment and
healing of cutaneous disease is a true analog of Joseph’s multicolored cloak. How does
the laser-surgeon-turned-historian achieve a sense of perspective over the laser miracles
of the past 40 years while sitting in the midst of them? Is he/she woven too tightly into the woof and warp to see above it? This author’s selection of a few articles and concepts
as seminal ones will trace this thread but it does not negate the importance of many other
legitimate contributions in our cloak (Table 1.1).
