What does it signify for a surgeon to run the numerous risks, present in every slightest move, in accepting to operate on an eye ? What does it mean for the patient undergoing the operation to place themselves in the hands of strangers, inevitably with a degree of mistrust, in order to be able to see again ? The surgeon and the patient are in fact the protagonists of a human adventure, a scientific conquest and a forgotten medical revolution, which deserve to be related. This is especially since the surgery of the 21st century will also demand creativity, ingenuity, faith and discipline ? all the forms of engagement that one calls human intelligence? Yves PouliquenAn internationally known specialist in ocular surgery, Professor Yves Pouliquen is the author of several books published with Odile Jacob, such as The Transparency of the Eye.