Physics in Medicine 7 



*'My Design in thinking of these Matters was, to try how far I 

 could carry Mechanical Consideration in Accounting for those 

 surprising Changes which Poisons make in an Animal Body; 

 concluding (as I think fairly) that if so abstruse Phaenomena as 

 these did come under the known Laws of Motion, it might very 

 well be taken for granted, that the more obvious Appearances in 

 the same Fabrick are owing to such Causes as are within the 

 Reach of Geometrical Reasoning." 



Again, 



"It is very evident, that all other Methods of improving Medicine 

 have been found Ineffectual, by the Stand It has been at these 

 Three or Four Thousand Years ; and that since of late Mathe- 

 maticians have set Themselves to the Study of It, Men do already 

 begin to Talk so Intelligibly and Comprehensibly, even about 

 abstruse Matters, that it may be hoped in a short Time, if Those 

 who are Designed for this Profession, are early, while their Minds 

 and Bodies are Patient of Labour and Toil, Initiated in the Knowl- 

 edge of Numbers and Geometry, that Mathematical Learning will 

 be the Distinguishing Mark of a Physician from a Quack; and 

 that He who wants this necessary Qualification will be as Ridiculous 

 as One without Greek or Latin." 



So much for those who feel that even if Philosophy and 

 Physics can agree, Mathematics and Physics cannot. It seems 

 that mathematics had already invaded medicine, although we 

 might even now be a little shy at claiming such prerogatives 

 for it. 



It will doubtless be equally interesting to look back in the 

 year 2200 a.d. and see the influence that the electrical theory 

 of matter, developed during the first few years of the twentieth 

 century, had upon medicine. 



Physics in Radiotherapy 



Advancing techniques in physics applied to medicine bring 

 problems of organization and human relationships, and it is 

 perhaps interesting to illustrate some of these problems of daily 



