BA English Modern essay'Are Doctor Men of Science'by G .B Shaw

ARE DOCTORS MEN OF SCIENCE?
                         George Bernard Shaw

G.B. Shaw, a famous Irish novelist, writer, reformer and critic, was born in Dublin. He was
called as a modern writer. He was awarded with Nobel Prize in literature in 1925. He was
also a famous journalist and had Witten many books-reviews and critical essays including
long prefaces of his own pay.
‘Are Doctors Men of Science?’ is an extract from Shaw s’ preface to the ‘Doctor Dilemma’. In
this essay Shaw is of the view that some men have God like powers over others. He satirizes
the doctors and laughs at the false pretentions of the medical profession. It is a famous that
the doctors are the men of science, but Shaw denies it.
Shaw proves logically that doctors are not the men of science. Doctors only cure the
diseases and nothing more. The business of the scientists is quite different that of the
doctors. The scientists invent and discover the things they also invent some new theories
while the doctors are quite impotent in this regards. He furthers his point of view by saying
that just as every captain of the ship is not Galileo; every draftsman is not Shakespeare and
every locomotive is not a miracle and its driver is not Stephenson, in the same way every
doctor is not scientist.
Doctoring is an art and not a science and it is not even the art of keeping the people healthy.
It is simply the art of curing diseases. In this regard their knowledge about science is no
more e than that of a lay man. The doctors practice their profession only to earn money and
they never make any contribution to science. The work of a scientist is creative one
whereas a doctor only follows the direction.
The writer justifies his point of view that even the quack and herbalists are doing the same
thing and they are making more money that a qualified doctor. Shaw say that the only
difference between a quack and qualified one is that the doctor has the authority to sign the
death certificate of the patient while a quack has no authority to do so. A doctor tells the
patient about what to eat and what not to eat. This same job is being done by the
grandmothers who also tell their sons about what to eat and what not to eat.

Important Points:
1. Shaw s' attitude in this essay mocking one,he makes fun of the false pretensions of the medical field
2. It is a wrong concept in the society that the people think that doctors are scientists
3. Shaw says that the doctors are not the men of science
4. The work of a doctor is quite different than that of a scientist
5. Doctoring is an art and it is the art of curing the diseases
6. The same work is being done by the quacks,herbalists,charmers  and fortune tellers.
7. These quacks are making more money than that of qualified one
8. Shaw is of the view that the only difference between the qualified and the quacks is that the qualified has the authority to sign the death certificate of the patient whereas the quack does not have this authority