Bücher von J. C. Eccles

Under the terms of the endowment by Lord Gifford, the Gifford Lectures have been an annual event in the University of Edin burgh since 1887, and also in three other Scottish universities.

So much has been written about the scientific contributions of Sherrington that the man himself, and his thoughts, have been overshadowed. He left no autobiographical material except the few pages of reminiscences entitled "Mar ginalia", an essay written in honour of Charles Singer (1953).

In February and March 1978 I delivered my first series of Gifford Lectures in the University of Edinburgh. The second series of ten lectures were delivered from April 18 to May 4 1979 under the title The Human Psyche.

The titling of this book - "Facing Reality" - came to me unbidden, presumably from my subconscious! The other component of the title - "Reality" - is the ultimate reality for each of us as conscious beings - our birth - our self-hood in its long stream of becoming throughout our life - our death and apparent annihilation.