the surgeon irinel popescu is the perfect example of a man that did in romania something that has never been done before and it was thought to be impossible to make: the first liver transplantation and the founding of a true romanian school for liver transplantation. “beyond the limit”, the book, written as a dialog between irinel popescu and anesthetist dora petrila, is on one hand the story of the lifetime and the medical career of irinel popescu and on the other hand, is the living proof that, with names like dan setlacec or irinel popescu, the list of great romanian surgeons, from ernest juvara to toma ionescu and nicolae hortolomei, is not closed.