I Knew Him When

/ KNEW HIM WHEN PAUL C. BUCY* I suppose that it is traditional and proper to congratulate Arthur Earl Walker on this occasion—the celebration ofhis sixtieth birthday. However , as I have recently had a similar experience myself, I am not at all sure why. On the other hand, perhaps it is because ofthe parallels in our careers, ofwhich the celebrations ofour sixtieth birthdays are only examples , that I am here. I am sure that I have not been asked to speak to you this evening about Earl Walker's outstanding achievements—these are all too well known to all ofyou to warrant their being repeated. I have not been asked to speak to you about thepast or future ofneurological surgery, an area in which my views have been expressed on several other occasions. Instead, I will assume that as our careers have followed similar paths in so many respects I am free to reminisce and comment about these. Both of us are products of the western prairies, Earl from Alberta, Canada, and I from Iowa. Both of us received our educations at the local institutions, euphemistically and, we hope,justifiably referred to as institutions ofhigher learning. Both of us began our special training in neurological surgery under the same chief, Percival Bailey, and in the same atmosphere, that ofthe University ofChicago. The day is still fresh in my memory when Percival Bailey suggested that Roy Grinker and Ijoin him at lunch to meet and interview a prospective candidate for the position of resident in neurology and neurological surgery at the University ofChicago. The candidate was Earl Walker. He seemed an acceptable choice and as a result followedJim Watts and me in the training program at Chicago. This was a happy day for Earl Walker. The atmosphere at the University ofChicago was a fortunate and unique one, not only because Walker would benefit from association with Percival Bailey but because of the many other contacts which he would enjoy there. The men with whom * Present address: 251 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611. 287 he was to come in contact were among the outstanding figures in all the world in the neurological and biological sciences. They included the outstanding neuroanatomist, Stephen Polyak, with whom Earl was to work closely; Roy R. Grinker, a remarkably able young neurologist and neuropathologist ; Anton J. Carlson—"Ajax"—one of the world's greatest physiologists; C. J. Herrick, a man whose competence and intellectual pursuits ranged far beyond the field ofcomparativeneurology in which he was a leader; Arno B. Luckhardt, a physiologist who initiated the great modern reformation of anesthesiology; George Bartelmez, a great embryologist who was one ofthe most critical ofscientists; Karl Lashley and Heinrich Klüver, two experimental psychologists, the likes ofwhom have hardly been seen before or since; Ralph Gerard, who wasjust beginning to explore some of the more intricate aspects of electrophysiology; H. G. Wells, a pioneer in histochemistry and chemical pathology; and many, many others. I stress these men as individuals because I believe that personal contact with great men can be the most important influence in any man's development . This opinion is in striking contrast with that ofone ofthe prominent people at the University ofChicago in those days—the president, Robert Maynard Hutchins. Hutchins came to Chicago as the "Boy Wonder" from Yale. It is doubtful ifhe ever got beyond that stage. Hutchins was ofthe opinion that men did not matter. The association with great investigators, great teachers was unimportant. The only thing that mattered was the reading of "Great Books." Hutchins also had a contempt for science. He was rather proud of saying that his only exposure to science had been a course in elementary chemistry which he dropped because it smelled bad. Hutchins' idea ofmodern medical science was the writings ofHippocrates and Galen. However, I shall drop Hutchins at the moment to return to him later. At the present I wish only to say that on this matter, as on many others, he and I completely disagreed. I have seen no reason since to change my mind; perhaps I amjust stubborn. Contact with great men is the greatest singlefactor in any intelligent man's development. Earl Walker...