born July 8, 1805, Easton, Pa., U.S.
died May 6, 1884, Philadelphia
U.S. surgeon, teacher of medicine, and author.
He was apprenticed to a local country doctor before receiving formal medical training. His most celebrated work, Elements of Pathological Anatomy (1839), was a pioneering effort that organized knowledge on the subject in English, and his System of Surgery (2 vol., 1859) had a profound effect on surgical thought worldwide. His Manual of Military Surgery (1861) was written at the government's request. Gross also invented many surgical tools. He was memorably portrayed in Thomas Eakins 's masterpiece, The Gross Clinic .