ABSTRACT
Charles Richet valued all aspects of independence, academic independence and freedom from social restrictions; although in matters of social civility and the precise use of language he was a strict conformist. Richet, who held that physiology, was the rational basis of clinical medicine, worked toward practical applications of his observations and discoveries. Richet's pupil and later colleague, Andre Mayer analyzed the paradox of Richet's deep devotion to science and his susceptibility to distractions including not only his literary and bibliographic work but also his preoccupation with social causes. Richet's contemporary, Michael Foster, professor of physiology at Cambridge, had also recognized the fundamental importance of the nervous system as the ultimate regulator of visceral function. Others of Richet's contributions from the laboratory have had lasting clinical significance. Richet's perception that an immunologic therapy for cancer would ultimately be established has also been cited.
