The Humanities are the Hormones

William Osler was the first physician elected president of the British Classical Association. In his inaugural address at Oxford on May 16, 1919, Osler spoke about “The Old Humanities and the New Science” (1). His wife, Grace, said at that time: “Never has Oxford been more wonderful—never. Everything is in bloom. The streets and parks, to say nothing of the town and river, look as though Nature has gone mad” (Figure ​(Figure11). Classics professors and teachers from all over England had come to Oxford for the meeting (2). Figure 1 Spring in Oxford. Typically, Osler organized displays of ancient scientific instruments and books for this special event (Figure ​(Figure22). The book section included 20 items from his own collection, the Bibliotheca Prima (3). Works by Plato, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Vesalius, Galileo, Harvey, Descartes, and Newton were exhibited (4). Osler's longtime Johns Hopkins colleague, William Welch, was present at the address (4). Osler told Welch he had never given so much thought to the preparation of a speech as he had to this one. The occasion turned out to be the last time Welch saw Osler. Figure 2 Osler showing one of his medical classics at the meeting of the British Classical Association in Oxford. Reprinted with permission from the William Osler Photo Collection, Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, ... Despite his credentials as a classical as well as a scientific scholar, Osler characterized himself as an amateur addressing a body of experts. Early in the address, he remarked, “In a life of teaching and practice, a mere picker-up of learning's crumbs is made to realize the value of the humanities in science not less than in general culture.” Still reeling from the loss of his only son in the recent World War (Figure ​(Figure33), Osler spoke about the barbarism and destruction that had occurred, predicting that “there must be a very different civilization or there will be no civilization at all”(Figure ​(Figure44). Revere Osler had been fatally wounded in Belgium on August 29, 1917 (5) and was buried in Flanders, a place immortalized by Lt. Col. John McCrae in his 1915 poem which begins: Figure 3 Revere Osler, 1915. Reprinted with permission from the William Osler Photo Collection, Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Figure 4 Human devastation in World War I, as shown in the portrait Gassed by John Singer Sargent. Reprinted with permission from the Imperial War Museum. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row. … (Figure ​(Figure55) (6) Figure 5 Flanders fields. After dealing with the terrible consequences of war, Osler turned to the humanities. He focused his attention on hormones, the “essential lubricators of the body,” and told his audience, “The men of your guild secrete materials which do for society at large what the thyroid gland does for the individual. The Humanities are the hormones.” Osler went on to say, “The Humanities bring the student into contact with the master minds” who gave us the great ideas and institutions of our civilization, and “infecting the average man with the spirit of the Humanities is the greatest single gift in education.” Osler argued for a greater emphasis on science as well as the humanities, stressing that both disciplines were essential components for the acquisition of a liberal education. He cautioned against overspecialization, saying, “Applying themselves early to research, young men get into backwaters far from the main stream. They quickly lose the sense of proportion, become hypercritical, and the smaller the field, the greater the tendency to megalocephaly.” Osler somberly acknowledged that cultivation of the humanities and the new science did not prevent a country from tragic self-destruction: Germany was among the most advanced nations in both classical learning and scientific achievements before the great war. Osler concluded on a positive note by saying, “The direction of our vision is everything…. The persistence of hope is a witness to the power of ideals to captivate the mind.” The presidential address at the British Classical Association was Osler's last formal speech. The following July, he reached his 70th birthday (Figure ​(Figure66). On December 29, 1919, he died. Figure 6 The last photograph of Sir William Osler, 1919. Reprinted with permission from the William Osler Photo Collection, Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The year 2009 was the 90th anniversary of Osler's address and also the 50th anniversary of C. P. Snow's Rede Lecture, “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” (7). Snow opined that “the intellectual life of the whole of Western society is increasingly being split into two polar groups—scientists and literary scholars.” Snow felt that the literary group shouldered most of the responsibility for the gulf between the two. This breakdown in communication between the “two cultures” was a significant impediment in resolving society's problems. Jerome Kagan, author of Three Cultures, expanded the concept, adding social sciences to the natural sciences and humanities (8). Social scientists evaluate the claims of both groups. Kagan emphasized the importance of humility when journeying from one's own discipline into the other two. Albert Jonsen has eloquently reaffirmed Osler's metaphor that the humanities are the hormones (9). Jonsen rephrased Osler's title in his monograph, The New Medicine and the Old Ethics, pointing out the ever-closer relationship between technology and the humanities. Perhaps Osler summarized it best, saying, “The old art cannot possibly be replaced by, but must be absorbed in, the new science” (10, 11). Recall that Osler told Welch that he worked harder on this speech than any other. He went beyond the humanities and sciences, calling attention to the warlike nature of mankind and the devastating consequences of advanced technology used to cause harm. The struggle continues. The beautiful flowers Grace Osler described in 1919 took on a different meaning 40 years later in the memorable Pete Seeger song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (12). After each verse, we hear the refrain: “When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?” The song goes on to ask where have all the young girls, husbands, soldiers, and graveyards gone and ends by completing the circle and returning to the query, “Where have all the flowers gone?” (Figure ​(Figure77). Figure 7 Where have all the flowers gone? The events in Oxford and Flanders now lie in the distant past. The remainder of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st have not provided much reason for optimism about our future. Osler's admonition about “no civilization at all” remains an awful possibility. When will we ever learn? Hopefully, the humanities and the sciences can be blended together in a more enlightened and peaceful manner.

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