Robert Gwyn Macfarlane's contribution to the organization of biorheology--and other reminiscences.

Gwyn Macfarlane and several colleagues from Oxford attended the conference on 'Flow of Blood in Relation to the Vessel Wall', held in 1958 at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, University of London (1). During the meeting F.J.W. Roughton, F.R.S., Professor of Colloid Science of Cambridge University, told me that the Faraday Society, which he represented, would be interested in sponsoring a conference on biorheology. Soon after I introduced F.J.W. Roughton, a direct descendant of William Harvey, to Gwyn Macfarlane. When I mentioned his interest and that of the Faraday Society in a conference on biorheology, Gwyn suggested without reservation that it should take place in Oxford during th-e following year. The three of us, together with George W. Scott Blair and four others, formed an Organizing Committee (2) which met in London and Oxford. Gwyn made the local arrangements in Oxford for this conference and also acted as its Honorary Treasurer. The conference was jointly convened by the Faraday Society and the British Society of Rheology. It was held at the University Laboratory of Physiology at Oxford on 23 and 24 September 1959. The choice of Oxford was a happy one, especially because Gwyn's local arrangements added much to the success of the conference.