I'm reading now a book which opens with the words Of all in the beginning without anything which precede the possessive of.
Of all the scientists to observe this remarkable healing, only Zasloff was curious enough to ask the right question.
I have two questions about this sentence:
I understand that the meaning of Of all is "from all the scientists only Zasloff was curious". Is this using correct? I'm asking about it because I didn't see this style of using so far.
I see the preposition to in this sentence (Of all the scientists to observe this remarkable healing) and for me as a non-native English speaker it looks like weird. Is the meaning to say as if from all scientist who observed this remarkable healing or alternatively From all scientist who were there to observe there etc.?