On the study of zoology and its place in medical and scientific education : being the introductory lecture delivered to the Natural History Class, School of Medicine, Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh, Tuesday, November 2, 1875 / by Andrew Wilson, Ph.D.

  • Wilson, Andrew, Ph.D.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the study of zoology and its place in medical and scientific education : being the introductory lecture delivered to the Natural History Class, School of Medicine, Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh, Tuesday, November 2, 1875 / by Andrew Wilson, Ph.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    All social actions being determined by the actions of individnals^ and all actions of individuals being vital actions that conform to the laws of life at large, a rational interpretation of social actions implies know- ledge of the laws of life. Or again— Scientific culture in general, then, is needful ; and above all, culture of the Science of liife. and, The Science of Life yields to the Science of Society certain great generalizations, without which there can be no Science of Society at all. I cannot conclude these remarks without expressing the wish that they may serve at least as an honest advocacy for the wider recognition of the importance of biological science in medical training, in technical and commonplace education, and in all the affairs and matters of ordinary life. I feel very confident that Biology, in itself, will represent the science of the future; since, in its wide-spread interests, extending through and uniting the other sciences, the arts, and even social ethics, it will prove itself to be one of the most power- ful and humanising studies of the age. Mr. Gladstone, in speaking of the religion and culture of the Greeks, says of that culture, that it tended powerfully to produce a lofty self- respect, and a large, free, and varied conception of humanity. It incorporated itself in schemes of notable discipline for mind and body, indeed of a lifelong education ; and these habits of mind and action had their marked results (to omit many other greatnesses) in a philosophy, literature, and art, which re- main to this day unrivalled or unsiirpassed. It seems to me that I might search very far before I found a more fitting or appropriate conclusion descriptive of the results of healthy science studies in young and old. And it is not the least marked of these results, that their good effects are cumulative in their character; since they are limited to no day or age, but, with increasing worth, hold good for all time.
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