Conversations in Medicine

advances will surely come when the details can be placed into a more general context and when the gaps between the individual findings are bridged. This volume provides a handy desk reference to the state of the art for those active in the field and should be required reading for the newcomer to the field. Dr. Weisse, a cardiologist on the faculty of the New Jersey Medical School, has interviewed sixteen physicians whom he admires for their impact on American medicine during the past 40 years and has recorded his questions and their answers in an entertaining and instructive book. He selected his panel of participants because they had inspired or intrigued him, not necessarily because they are famous. They come from many different backgrounds, attended a variety of medical schools, and have worked at all sorts of institutions. All except one (Sir George Pickering) are American. Most readers will find surprises in the group interviewed, but all will be interested in their stories or points of view. Each section begins with a photograph and brief biography of the subject. When other eminent figures in medicine are mentioned in the text, a very brief identifying paragraph is provided in an appendix. The author does not indulge in sermons, though clear messages come through in the interviews. Not all of those interviewed agree with one another. Pickering takes a healthy roundhouse swing at American methods of patient care which leave too much responsibility in the hands of beginners (house staff) and ill-equipped family practitioners, whereas Franny Moore, in the following interview, defends the American system and expresses skepticism about whether British general practitioners are sufficiently stimulated to keep up with medical advances. The special problems of women in medicine are dismissed by Marian Ropes but described with sympathy by Lena Edwards. Arthur Kornberg feels that research is so big a responsibility that it cannot effectively be carried out in conjunction with clinical responsibilities (a position similar to that recently taken by Gordon Gill), whereas Moore argues that the clinical investigator is required as a bridge between basic science and the practitioner. Weisse tries to draw lessons from the interviews and concludes that it may be an advantage to a scientist to have been brought up in a poor family with a dominating mother and a weak or deceased father! I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The text of the interviews has …