Breast Cancer
The present volume deals with the earlier period from the inception of the lectures in 1901 to A. Krogh's lecture on the capillaries in 1920; no prize was awarded in 1921; it contains the citations, presentation addresses, and biographies of eighteen Nobel Laureates.
Abstract
The appearance of the present volume marks the completion of publication of the series of Nobel Lectures in physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine, consisting of nine volumes covering the years 1901-1962. The general plan of the series was described in the B.M.7. on 8 January 1966 when the volume of Nobel Lectures in Physiology or Medicine, 1922-1941, was reviewed. The present volume deals with the earlier period from the inception of the lectures in 1901 to A. Krogh's lecture on the capillaries in 1920; no prize was awarded in 1921. It contains the citations, presentation addresses, and biographies of eighteen Nobel Laureates. This was an age of giants, beginning with E. A. von Behring, Ronald Ross, N. R. Finsen, I. P. Pavlov, and R. Koch. This volume, like the rest of the series, is beautifully produced but expensive. It belongs to the same category as reprints and facsimile editions of the classics. It will be of special interest to the medical historian, and to the student of the scientific method and the process of discovery, but it can be dipped into with interest by the general reader. Such a dip brought up the following plum from Sir Ronald Ross's address in 1902: " The mind long engaged with a single problem often acquires a kind of prophetic insight, apparently stronger than reason, which tells the truth, though the actual arguments may look feeble enough when put upon paper. Such an insight is mainly based, I suppose, on a concentration of small probabilities each of which may have little weight of itself ; but in this case at all events the insight was there and spoke the truth." The biographies are informative if not always vivid. All the subjects were brought up in comfortable circumstances and five of the 18 came from medical families. Most of them were bright children, and Robert Koch astounded his parents at the age of 5 by telling them that he had taught himself to read with the aid of the newpapers. The motives and occasions which led them into research were various. The Rector of his school said of Finsen, "Niels was a very nice boy, but his gifts were small and he was quite devoid of energy." In fact, poor Niels suffered from Pick's disease and this drew him into the study of the therapeutic effects of sun and light in tuberculosis and other diseases-too late for himself; he died from his disease at the age of 44. This is a story of men who were great in virtue of their contributions to knowledge and healing, and the loving care of the Nobel Foundation and the Elsevier Publishing Company has ensured that, though their tongues have ceased, their words are preserved for mankind. L. J. WITTS.