The inaugural address on the art of writing in relation to medical and scientific work : delivered before the Society of Medical Phonographers / by W.R. Gowers.

  • William Richard Gowers
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The inaugural address on the art of writing in relation to medical and scientific work : delivered before the Society of Medical Phonographers / by W.R. Gowers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    many other branches of intellectual work and especially in natural science. But no eflFect on the quality of work is limited thereto ; the worker is influenced as well as the work. If a man habitually observes more fully, more precisely, and more carefully, he must become a better observer, able to perceive more accu- rately, more minutely, more adequately, and to attain pre- cision more readily. This influence, moreover, whatever its degree, must be progressive. We might take as our motto the words Writing maketh an exact man. The use of shorthand in science does not stop at the record of observation. It is equally available, with the same saving of time and labour, in the processes of com- parison of observations, of epitomising the facts observed by others, and in all the preliminary work of composition. Indeed, I have frequently written the final copy in short- hand ; typewriters transcribe it with accuracy, and it is only a question of demand for shorthand MS. to be accurately put up directly in ordinary type. These remarks have special reference to the work by which medical science is increased and improved. It may be thought that they have little application to the work of the practitioner. Such an idea is a mistake, and, like most mistakes, is instructive by its error. The capacity of short- hand to promote the work of our profession attains its maximum in the aid it can give to the practitioner. Further, the aid it can give the practitioner does not essentially djfi'er from that which it aflords to higher scientific work, and the fact is worth noting. For what is the work of the practitioner of medicine ? Of all those who toil in the busy hives or barren deserts of this earth of ours, he stands in one respect alone. His daily work is to apply science to human need. He avails himself of the knowledge that we have of the processes of Nature without and within the human frame, to strive to avert or arrest disaster to life. He starts equipped with a cei'tain amount of knowledge—as much as he can receive from those who teach him. But he learns more from each day's work. Facts come before him every hour, facts some- times new, and often new to him. His ability depends on his use of them, on the exactness of his observations, on his adequate retention of their lessons. No practitioner can do his daily work with any competence without constani'y