Dr. Thomas: One of Princeton’s All-Time Greats

Thank you for the Princeton Portrait of Dr. Lewis Thomas ’33 (May issue). When I began my service as CEO of a large hospital in the Los Angeles area, I thought it would be helpful when discussing hospital matters with members of the medical staff if I had an understanding of what was taking place in the fields of surgery and medicine. So I began reading the lead articles in The Lancet and JAMA.

Sometime along that way I came across an article by Dr. Thomas. To me he was saying, “I understand the science but there is something else going on out there.” He never mentioned a supreme being and certainly not God, just something else.

As soon as I could, I bought a boxed set of The Lives of a Cell and The Medusa and the Snail and read them. I still have the set and occasionally read a part of one or the other. I still hear there’s something else going on out there.

I have no quarrel with the lists of Princeton alumni who earn well deserved accolades for their post Princeton achievements. Nevertheless, if I were compiling such a list, I would place Lewis Thomas ’33 M.D. at the very top.