Las Vegas, 1983
About Giles Brindley – Extreme Show & Tell
Today’s post is a significant revision of an article, originally published November 6, 2006 at AlignMap1 about Giles Brindley and his amazing presentation The updated and expanded post can be accessed at Giles Brindley – Extreme Show & Tell.
Who, one might now rhetorically and justifiably ask, is Giles Brindley and what could be so “amazing” about his presentation to warrant expending the energy to click on the link to that post?
Anticipating that Heck Of A Guy readers are the discerning sort of conscientious readers that might indeed pose that query, I have prepared a response, in the form of …
5 Reasons To Read Giles Brindley – Extreme Show & Tell
1. The opening lines of the post should pique one’s curiosity:
Answer:
Displaying One’s Erection As Part Of A Lecture At A Scientific Meeting
Question:
What Happens In Vegas That Doesn’t Stay In Vegas?
2. The central vignette, which takes place in Las Vegas during a medical society annual meeting, features (1) a farcical episode in which physicians and their spouses, dressed in formal attire, are beset with shock and awe by the sight of an exposed penis, (2) an important advance in basic physiology and the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and (3) a contribution to a major cultural shift.
3. A “logical bassoon” plays a role in the discussion (and not as an euphemism) , as do pole-vaulting (also not an euphemism), orienteering, visual neuroprosthetics (in the 1960s), ironically rare photos, and – yep, you guessed it – Leonard Cohen.
4. A major thrust of this post (the one with the exposed penis, Las Vegas setting, pole-vaulting, etc.) is to remedy the sensationalism of other reports of this event.
5. Dr Klotz, the author of the definitive first hand account of Professor Brindley’s presentation, has generously written a laudatory afterword recommending the piece that I immodestly reproduce here:
In April 1983, I was a senior resident in the last few months of my residency training, and heavily focused on preparing for my upcoming qualifying exams. To top up my knowledge, I vowed to attend every session at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association that I could. That was the only reason that I attended the evening session of the Urodynamics Society, since urodynamics was not my primary interest. At that lecture, I was witness to a unique and historic experience. The lecture, at which Giles Brindley announced to the world his historic self-experiments in penile injection therapy, and demonstrated its effectiveness in a highly convincing way, has remained very fresh in my mind. The lecture rapidly took on a mythic quality in urologic circles. There were 2 reasons for this: a) Dr. Brindley’s courage and idiosyncracy in demonstrating the effects of penile injection on himself in a public forum, and b) the importance of his discovery. Penile injection therapy revolutionized the management of erectile dysfunction, and is widely used around the world.
Allan Showalter has written an extraordinary description of this extraordinary and unique individual. Dr. Brindley is one of a kind and he deserves to be remembered. Dr. Showalter has made a major contribution by portraying his multi-dimensional qualities. His article is wonderful.
Laurence Klotz
President, Canadian Urological Association
Again, today’s post can be found at
Giles Brindley – Extreme Show & Tell
