British contributions to medical science : the Woodward-Wellcome symposium, University of British Columbia, 1970 / edited by William C. Gibson.

Date:
1971
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: British contributions to medical science : the Woodward-Wellcome symposium, University of British Columbia, 1970 / edited by William C. Gibson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/326 (page IX)
    Foreword Gibson should seek my aid in making the arrangements for the British speakers at his proposed meeting, both to avoid covering ground already well covered and to avoid the delays that might arise from the great distance between Vancouver and London. Unfortunately, commitments elsewhere prevented my own attendance at this meeting, but my British friends and colleagues assure me that it was indeed a memorable occasion, organized to perfection on the spot. Some of their papers I was able to read before they were delivered; others I have read for the first time before sending this volume to press. Taken as a whole, I think it will be agreed that they present a record of a most substantial contribution to the advancement of knowledge and human welfare, a record of which any country might justifiably be proud. At a time when the foreign press is avidly discussing what they call ‘the British apathy’ and ‘the decline of Britain’, it is well for the world to be assured—for some of the history in the following pages is very modern—that it is but a transitory phase. The intellectual achievements discussed in these papers are less a product of a great imperial past than they are of a native intelligence and creative energy that at times throws up a genius. F. N. L. Poynter Honorary Lecturer, Dept, of History of Medicine, University of B.C.