Book review: Old Endeavour: Scientific and Hu­manitarian Contributions by Physicians After 65.

By William C. Gibson, MD.

Book cover for Old Endeavour: Scientific and Hu­manitarian Contributions by Physicians After 65.

Palermo: International Association for Humanitarian Medicine, 2007. ISBN 987-88-902020-1-7. Hardcover. $30. To order, e-mail contact@iahm.org.

British Columbia’s elegant man of letters, Dr Wil­liam C. Gib­son has, in his 93rd year, written another book. Old Endeavour is a compilation of snap­shot biographies of the medical, scientific, and humanitarian contributions of medical luminaries from the past few hundred years. 

Dr Gibson’s well-researched chronicles describe the amazing length and breadth of the work these individuals managed to complete after the age of 65. Many of the names will harken back to your student days, such as Harvey Cushing, Michael De Bakey, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Dorothy Hodg­kin, Shiela Sherlock, Sir William Osler, to name a few. I particularly enjoyed reading the very insightful vignettes that Dr Gibson uses to bring the lives of these giants of medical history back into focus. 

After reading this book I found it more than a little embarrassing to discover just how productive these giants of medical science were in the autumn of their careers, some only deciding to “leave it to those younger folk” when, in their 90s, they finally decided to slow down a bit. 

I decided not to do the review of this book until I had passed my 65th birthday just so I could write from a sympathetic perspective. However, now that I have accomplished both the reading and the acquisition of an MSP Gold Card, it is clear to me that this book will find an interested, appreciative audience among all physicians irrespective of age or professional persuasion. 

I encourage you to read this little gem of a book as it really does reconnect you with our shared, im­mensely rich history. To my aging mind, it is an extremely important thing for all of us to remember that the reason we enjoy such a privileged position in society is because we are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

Ever since I attended a lecture by Dr William Gibson on the history of medicine at the Woodward Memorial Library in my first year at UBC Medical School, I have been smitten by the man’s energy, intellect, and enormous passion for the role of medical science in our ongoing pursuit of knowledge. 

Dr Gibson has been a beacon for me, and as I ponder what my years beyond 65 should be filled with, I sense once again that Dr Gibson is lighting the way for me.

My advice: read this book. The light just might go on for you too.

—James A. Wilson, MD
Richmond

James A. Wilson, MD. Book review: Old Endeavour: Scientific and Hu­manitarian Contributions by Physicians After 65.. BCMJ, Vol. 50, No. 8, October, 2008, Page(s) 464 - News.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply