each book. Interpretation Through the years Osler's ideal of "Aequanimitas" has been criticised on the grounds that it excludes empathy, sympathy, or emotional resonance with patients. One of the strongest critiques was presented by Gerald Weissmann in his book The Woods Hole Cantata (1985). It had been published the previous year in Hospital Practice, as an essay entitled "Against Aequanimitas". Weissmann's assessment of Osler led him to conclude that Osler's advice held "the public tone of the academic snob". After reciting Osler's description of "imperturbability", Weissmann held the opinion that "the Oslerian view is not only devoid of passion, but [also] of joy". Osler however, did not that day in 1889 intend to give the graduating medical students comprehensive advice about how to practice medicine. His involvement was a relatively small part of a busy commencement programme, in which the principal honoree was the retiring professor of surgery, David Hayes Agnew ("Agnew day"). Charles S. Bryan later explains that Osler deliberately confined his remarks to two of the qualities the students would need in practice. Osler emphasized the need to balance "head" and "heart". In his interpretation the balance varies according to the nature of the task at hand and Aequanimitas is best understood as emotions appropriate to the circumstances rather than as indifference as suggested by the critiques. Daniel Sokol, medical ethics and law expert, reasons in the British Medical Journal in 2007, that whatever interpretation is made of Aequanimitas, it "tackles head-on a timeless question: what makes a good doctor?". Legacy Japan's prime minister's physician, Shigeaki Hinohara, was given a copy of Aequanimitas in the early days of the United States Military Occupation of Japan after the Second World War. Hinohara subsequently translated the title address and paraphrased the rest. In 1948, he published a book entitled The Life of Dr. Osler—Pioneer of American Medicine. The term aequanimitas has become a motto. At Johns Hopkins, it appears on ties and scarves worn by the housestaff, and was mentioned in the television programme House. A similar concept to aequanimitas was addressed by Steve Jobs at Stanford University in 2005. Daniel Goleman's notion of emotional intelligence has been described as a modern variation of aequanimitas. References Further reading Aequanimitas P. Blakiston's Son & Co (1910) External links History books about medicine Medical books History of medicine William Osler 1889 essays Canadian essay collections