The single greatest influence on my work has been the inscrutable, often incomprehensible Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher and MRC Lab Technician. Much of his writing I find very difficult. The early paragraphs in Philosophical Investigations are a good introduction but even easier, for me, was the great Ray Monk Biography and the fascinating account of the tale of Wittgenstein’s Poker. The principles I have learned, which I call on daily, include:

Thanks to the efforts of an inspiring physician, Jeffrey Brenner, the Compstat policing method of mapping crime by time and location has been applied to medicine. In Camden, NJ, where he practised, 1% of patients account for a third of the city’s medical costs. The reason for this is the people with the highest need actually receive the worst care.