LONDON - Sir Magdi Yacoub, a pre-eminent cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon of an Egyptian origin gave a lecture Thursday, in which he presented an overview of his latest perspective on medicine and science in general.
The event, which took place at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), was sponsored by the Anglo Arab Organization (AAO) as part of its effort to highlight the role of prominent Arab immigrants in Europe.
During her opening speech, Baroness Ilora Finlay, President of the RSM, presented the audience with a summary of the outstanding features of Yacoub’s professional and academic life.
The Baroness also stressed the important role played by the AAO and its President Nadhmi Auchi in sponsoring the cause of medicine, citing his recent initiative in helping to fund the best and biggest dialysis centre in UK.
During his speech, Auchi joined the Baroness in stressing the outstanding success of Yacoub in the field of heart transplant.
“The stunning success which Yacoub met as a heart surgeon did not prevent him from conducting research in new areas, such as stem cells, to treat heart disease,” Auchi noted.
Also present at the event was Professor Nadey Hakim, AAO Board of Directors and RSM Fellow.
Yacoub, who was born and raised in Cairo, has preformed around 2,000 transplant operations (more than any other surgeon in the world) and has always combined surgical work with scientific research.
In addition to being involved in the first heart transplant that took place in the United Kingdom, he is also known for performing the first UK live lobe lung transplant and the first ever domino operation.
But despite being a key figure in the scientific world of heart and lungs transplant, the Egyptian-born surgeon has not lost touch with the humanities, which he sees as having an important role in enhancing science.
“Scientists who have studied humanities perform better” than their counterparts, maintained Yacub during the lecture.
Reflecting on the ancient mythology of his homeland, Yacoub noted that the ancient Egyptians portrayed the “goddess of truth” (truth meaning science in today’s terms) as the most beautiful of their characters.
“Truth is unattainable; we can only seek it. The publication of [scientific] papers is going nearer the truth in pursuit of excellence in science but not actually getting there,” said Yacoub.
“In Egyptian wisdom”, Yacoub continued, “truth is beautiful but unattainable. That’s why whenever someone tries to get near the goddess of truth, she spreads her wings and flies away.”
The best way to get closer to scientific truth, Yacoub noted, is by trying to refute it and see how well it stands the test, instead of merely searching for supporting arguments.
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