Depending on your opinion, Why medical biography?nmay seem either an obvious or a foolish question.nBiography is about ideas. There are, I suppose, twonmain ingredients in the mixture: the life of the mannor woman described, and the work and results theynhave achieved. These are inextricably interrelated.nPersonal eccentricities and notoriety may enhancenthe recipe. Biographies help us to understand theirnsubjects’ successes and failures, and to put themnin the context of lives filled with achievements.nWe may also ask: does reading biography yieldnanything more important than satisfying the fleetingncuriosity of an idle moment? Does it addnanything of substance to our knowledge, understandingnand purpose? Purpose is more likely to beninspired or strengthened in the young student thannin the backward looking doctor who thinks he hasnseen it all or done it all; but not surprisingly, it isnthe mature rather than the young who readnbiography.
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