"On August 1st, 1957, Theodore Kurze at the University of Southern California became the first neurosurgeon to use an operating microscope to remove a a neurilemmoma of the VIIIth nerve. The inspiration to develop this was provided by watchin the delicate middle ear surgeries performed utilizing an operating microscope performed by Dr. William House, an otological surgeon. Dr. Kurze introduced many neurosurgeons to the oeprating microscope amonst whom were Robert Rand...." (Misra and Chaudhuri, "The operating microscope," Ramamurthi et al (eds.) Textbook of operative neurosurgery (New Delhi: BI Publications, 2005) 29).

The first textbooks on microneurosurgery by the pioneering American neurosurgeon, Robert Rand, and the pioneering Turkish-Swiss neurosurgeon Gazi Yasargil, both appeared in 1969.