In Constant Use

Back in 1970 my Grandfather co-authored a book on genetics.  This is long before we had the ability to sequence genomes or apply genetic tests in the womb use PIGD (Pre Implantation Genetic Diagnosis) to help those with hereditary conditions determine whether they could have children free from their problems.   This is from an era of statistical genetics, when exploring the prevalence of conditions in family trees and an understanding of how they move through generations offered the best predictions available.  I am led to believe this was considered a definitive work on the subject at the time.

I've long fancied owning a copy, but it's content has remained relevant until quite recently.  Occasionally copies pop up in US booksellers, but usually costing a substantial amount with hefty postage and import costs.  Recently a copy popped up in the UK at a more modest price, so I ordered it and it arrived today.

This is a second edition from 1976, and from the stamps and markings in it, it looks like it was purchased as new by Oxford Polytechnic Library in 1982.  Several sheets of stamps (like the one shown above) show that from 1982 until 2005 it was withdrawn regularly, and the last stamp is from 2007.  I wonder how many medical textbooks written in the late 1960s were still in regular use 37 years after first publication?

I don't know what happened to it between 2007 and now.  For all I know it may have been in use as it does have barcodes and library security tags that may have enabled its use without being stamped (even when I was at university in the mid 90's our library books weren't stamped - we could log in to the engineering library to check what we had and when it was due back). Or perhaps it has been mouldering a storeroom or on a booksellers shelf.

I remember well my grandfather explaining probability and statistics to me as a teenager by analogy with drawing snooker balls out of a bag in his last years at some point - he always retained his fascination with the subject.  Funnily enough it's a subject that has frequently been highly relevant to my work too (including in my current job, where our technology is underpinned by a statistical approach) and I have always enjoyed that sense of connection between my now and his enthusiasm

This book is another small connection to that past, and it pleases me to see how long it served its intended purpose before becoming a mere curiosity...

(my copy of another book he published appeared in my first month of blipping - and it was in a subject area perhaps more relevant to blippers!)