Abstract
THE appointment of Sir Lionel Whitby to the regius chair of physic at Cambridge marks, as Sir Lionel himself says in his inaugural lecture (“The Science and Art of Medicine.” Cambridge University Press, 1946. le. 6d. net), a departure from the traditions of this ancient office, which was founded in 1540. It is, Sir Lionel says, the first time that the chair has been held by a man who is primarily interested in the scientific rather than the clinical aspects of medicine. This may well be “an instinctive recognition of the importance of the scientific aspects of medicine, not forgetting that science is not all factual and itself contains much art”. Medicine, too, he says later on, is both a science and an art. It will, however, never be an exact science, because every person who is ill must be approached differently. “This, the frequently ridiculed bedside manner... is an art which is inborn and not acquired.” The science of medicine is nevertheless necessary ; and one of the attractions of the profession is the personal and individual character of its practice, which constitutes one of the strongest objections to its nationalization and standardization. To-day, we “do riot tend” to produce physicians as skilled and shrewd in diagnosis as those earlier workers who had to rely entirely on their personal observation; and the modern student, with so many scientific checks at his command, will do well to imitate his forbears more closely by "carefully orientating his cases before demanding wholesale laboratory work".
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Science and Art of Medicine. Nature 157, 508 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157508b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157508b0