Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) and life before birth.

Thomas Browne was born in 1605. His father was a London merchant about whom little is known. His mother married a second time and Thomas's stepfather, Sit Thomas Dutton, gave him an excellent education, first at Winchester and then at Bradgate Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford. His undergraduate career was distinguished and he acquired a BA in 1626, followed by a MA in 1629. After a visit to Ireland with his stepfather, he went on the grand tour, visiting the famous medical centres of Montpellier, Padua and, finally, Leyden, where he obtained a medical degree in 1633. The following year he returned to England and then settled at Shibden Hall, near Halifax in Yorkshire, in order to recover his health which had been impaired by shipwreck on the journey home. While recuperating during 1634-5 he occupied himself in writing a book, Religio Medici, which was to make him famous.' He had not at first intended it for publication but, on an imperfect unauthorised version appearing in 1642, he agreed to the printing of a corrected edition the following year. It at once became and remained a best seller passing through many editions and being translated into Latin, Dutch, French, and German. Browne had a brilliant and cultured mind; he was a scholar who spoke most European languages as well as Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and who had studied and travelled widely. He was also deeply religious. In the Religion of a Physician he explores and questions in colourful moving phrases the philosophy, prejudices and paradoxes of life. He manages to combine scepticism with humble faith. The following excerpts illustrate the warmth, humour, and humility of the man: