Tuberculosis : its cure and prevention / by Gordon Tippett.

  • Tippett, Gordon.
Date:
1933
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Tuberculosis : its cure and prevention / by Gordon Tippett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE. This book, Tuberculosis : Infection, Heredity,' first appeared early in June, 1930. I had been struck by the discrepancies which exist between the known facts and the classical or conventional theory that tuber¬ culosis is not hereditary, but solely the result of infec- y ' y tion. jNIy purpose in writing this book has been to show that this theon^, though it has been accepted for many years past, cannot solve the greatest problem of modern pathology, but is, on the contrary, questionable and inconsistent with many of the facts. By presenting this theor) as finally рголхп and incontroA^ertible, may it not be said that pathologists have discouraged further research and thus hindered progress ? The views set forth in this book make no pretence of being unassailable. ]\Iy purpose has been simply to re-open discussion on a question which is of para¬ mount importance in medicine. I ha\^e expressed my own views as to the relative importance of heredity and infection in the propagation of tuberculosis, but I am perfectly willing, as I have pointed out repeatedly to modify these \ñews if their inaccuracy can be demonstrated to my satisfaction. If I may be pardoned for paraphrasing the beginning of the first aphorism of Hippocrates, I would say that life is short, science the work of time, opportunity fleeting, experience deceitful, judgment difficult. I will go further, and add that the correct reading of facts calls for nice discrimination, for they are often liable to misconstruction. A scientist may fall into errors of technique or reasoning, and consequently should always draw inferences with caution, not seeking arguments in support of his views, but being ready to consider any objections to them. Once the simple explanation of a problem has been found it is easy to recognise the difficulties and complexities