The history of cryosurgery is very much linked to the history of cold engineering and physical chemistry. As humanity progressed and new discoveries gave way to better control of cold, surgeons were able to experiment and use cold to destroy selected tissues and cure tumors. The physicists who developed medical applications to cold played an important role as did scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who dedicated their lives to produce, control, and make available equipment and refrigerants. Some historical highlights of cryosurgery will be presented in this chapter.