Dr. Bernard Isaacs, one of the great men of modern British geriatrics, died several years ago in Jerusalem. In order to commemorate this physician, A. Mark Clarfield has written the following piece.
Prof. Isaacs' untimely death, six years ago this month, robbed us all of a great man. First and foremost, he was a first-rate geriatrician, truly one of the "giants" in the field. In addition, he had a golden hand and was a beautiful writer. Finally, to me and to many others, he was a great friend. We will miss him.
In order to commemorate my beloved colleague, I will concentrate on bringing to you some of Bernard's words of wisdom and wit. I shall try to do so via judicious quotations from his third and final book, "The Challenge of Geriatrics Medicine" (Oxford University Press, 1992). In fact, Bernard had intended to call the book, "The Giants of Geriatrics", after his now famous formulation. He listed the giants via four "I's"-- namely immobility, instability, incontinence, and intellectual impairment. Unfortunately, the publisher, in its limited wisdom, thought otherwise and gave the book the less interesting title.
Bernard's published works included scores of articles, as well as three books. Merely perusing the titles of some of his works will testify to his humour and wit. For example, Bernard wrote a series of articles for Nursing mirror.
